OSCE MINSK GROUP’S US CO-CHAIRMAN TO VISIT BAKU
Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
May 29 2007
Azerbaijan, Baku / Òrend corr E. Huseynov / The US co-chairman of
the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, intends to visit Azerbaijan on
about the 5-8 June, the head of the Public Relations Department of
the United States Embassy to Azerbaijan, Johnatan Henik reported.
According to Henik, the US mediator of the OSCE Minsk Group will
hold talks on the current situation of the peaceful settlement of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the Azerbaijani
administration. As the Advisor on Europe and Eurasia of the US
Secretary of State, he will participate in the 14th International
Exhibition Conference ‘Caspian Sea – Oil, Gas, Oil Processing, and
Petrochemistry’ to be held in Baku on 5-8 June. The US Deputy Trade
Minister will also be in attendance.
The Russian and French co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group visited the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict region on 21-25 May. An agreement on the
next round of talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents
was reached.
"During this stage of the settlement, the issue on the liberation
of 7 regions and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh will be the topic of
further discussions," Yuri Merzlakov, the Russian co-chairman of the
OSCE Minsk Group, said during the press conference in Baku. He noted
that it was too early to talk about co-ordinating the basic principles
with regards to the peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in
1988 due to the territorial claims of Armenia against Azerbaijan.
Armenia occupied 20% of Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and seven of the surrounding regions in the country. Since
1992, these territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian
Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement
which put an end to the hostilities. The Co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk
Group ( Russia, France and USA) are holding peaceful negotiations.
The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos will pay a visit to Baku and Yerevan on 4-5 June in order
to provide a new impetus to the negotiations.
–Boundary_(ID_TaO/XzuofC5YsYlzQEeJ Tw)–