OSCE CiO, MG Co-chairs plan negotiating initiatives for remaining year

July 13, 2011 - 14:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis met the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group: ambassador Bernard Fassier of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of the Russian Federation accompanied by ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office.

Ažubalis voiced support for the efforts by the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group to achieve a breakthrough at the negotiations on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, and called for more civil society involvement in the implementation of confidence-building measures, saying: “It will contribute to the resolution of the conflict, and will strengthen confidence among the societies.”

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs informed Ažubalis about the trilateral meeting of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian Presidents in Kazan on June 24, which was an attempt to agree on basic principles as the framework for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict.

They also discussed the prospects of a solution of the Karabakh conflict, and planned negotiating initiatives for the remaining year, the OSCE said in a press release.

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.