Baku, Azerbaijan, June 14
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
Azerbaijan expects more serious work from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs for reaching a fair decision as they will visit the region, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov told reporters in Baku June 14.
He noted that the Minsk Group should not consider its mission accomplished by paying visits to the region.
“The OSCE Minsk Group members have long been carrying out activities, but no proper steps have been taken to find a fair solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” said Ahmadov.
“They carry out certain work and I don’t want to give an unfair assessment to their activities. However, the main work to resolve the conflict and improve the lives of IDPs has not been done. Azerbaijani lands have not been liberated and the conditions for the return of our compatriots to their homes have not been created,” he said, adding this is what Azerbaijan expects from the OSCE Minsk Group.
Ahmadov added that the unresolved conflict increases tension in the region.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.