Foreign Minister, OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs talk Karabakh

October 26, 2015 - 17:09 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met Monday, October 26, with OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs Igor Popov (Russia), James Warlick (U.S.) Pierre Andrieu (France), as well as Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

At the meeting, the parties discussed steps to tackle peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Armenia's foreign policy chief drew the Co-chairs’ attention to Azerbaijan’s continuous ceasefire violations on the border with Armenia and along the contact line with Nagorno Karabakh, despite the Co-chairs’ previous statements.

“Azerbaijan’s border provocations are accompanied by Baku’s militaristic rhetoric, threats, hostility and hate propaganda,” Nalbandian said. “Azerbaijan’s refusal to create a mechanism for border investigation proves Baku’s attempts to undermine Armenia’s and the Co-chairs’ efforts, aimed at the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.”

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out as result of the ethnic cleansing launched by the Azeri authorities in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994 (when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions are now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.