OSCE TO MONITOR CEASEFIRE ON ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI BORDER
RIA Novosti, Russia
June 28 2006
BAKU/YEREVAN, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - Officials from the world's
largest regional security organization will conduct ceasefire
monitoring Wednesday along a disputed stretch of the border between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, an Azerbaijani defense ministry spokesman said.
The two countries exchanged numerous allegations of ceasefire
violations in February and March on the border near troubled
Nagorny-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely ethnic Armenian
population, but previous OSCE inspections this year in the conflict
zone registered no violations of the ceasefire regime.
Russia's defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, said May 31 that the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be resolved by the two countries
themselves and not by third parties. He added that peacekeepers could
be deployed in the conflict zone.
Ivanov's remarks came a day after Armenia and Azerbaijan both claimed
fatalities following a shootout between soldiers on the border near
Nagorny Karabakh and accused each other of breaching a 1994 ceasefire
agreement.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh first
erupted in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan
to join Armenia. Over 30,000 people were reported dead on both sides
between 1988 and 1994, and over 100 others died after a ceasefire
was concluded in 1994, leaving Nagorny Karabakh in Armenian hands,
but tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia have persisted.
RIA Novosti, Russia
June 28 2006
BAKU/YEREVAN, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - Officials from the world's
largest regional security organization will conduct ceasefire
monitoring Wednesday along a disputed stretch of the border between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, an Azerbaijani defense ministry spokesman said.
The two countries exchanged numerous allegations of ceasefire
violations in February and March on the border near troubled
Nagorny-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely ethnic Armenian
population, but previous OSCE inspections this year in the conflict
zone registered no violations of the ceasefire regime.
Russia's defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, said May 31 that the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be resolved by the two countries
themselves and not by third parties. He added that peacekeepers could
be deployed in the conflict zone.
Ivanov's remarks came a day after Armenia and Azerbaijan both claimed
fatalities following a shootout between soldiers on the border near
Nagorny Karabakh and accused each other of breaching a 1994 ceasefire
agreement.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh first
erupted in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan
to join Armenia. Over 30,000 people were reported dead on both sides
between 1988 and 1994, and over 100 others died after a ceasefire
was concluded in 1994, leaving Nagorny Karabakh in Armenian hands,
but tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia have persisted.