OFFICIAL STATEMENT: OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS STRONGLY URGED ALL PARTIES TO RESPECT THE CEASE-FIRE
I.Huseynov
Trend
Sept 10 2010
Azerbaijan
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of
Russia, Bernard Fassier of France, and Robert Bradtke of the United
States strongly urged all parties to respect the cease-fire, OSCE
Minsk Group's official statement says.
While all parties reconfirmed their commitment to the 1994 cease-fire,
the Co-Chairs reiterated that it is critical that this commitment is
carried out in practice.
The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs travelled to Baku, Yerevan, and
Nagorno-Karabakh September 6-9.
On September 8, with the facilitation of the Permanent Representative
of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and the
military authorities of all sides, the Co-Chairs crossed the Line of
Contact (LoC) on foot, en route to Stepanakert/Khankhendi, to highlight
that the LoC is not to become a permanent barrier between neighboring
peoples and to demonstrate to all parties that the ceasefire of 1994
must be strictly respected. This marked the first time the mediators
have crossed the LoC since November 2001.
The Co-Chairs held discussions with all parties regarding the
previously agreed Field Assessment Mission to the territories
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, which they will conduct between late
September and mid-October. They presented the elements of their
mission, and they will finalize their preparations for the mission
in the nearest future.
The Co-Chairs welcomed the decision by Azerbaijan to postpone
consideration of its resolution in the United Nations General
Assembly. At the same time they reiterated that the OSCE Minsk
Group remains the sole framework for a peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Before they return to the region to carry out the Field Assessment
Mission, the Co-Chairs will travel to Washington, D.C. and then to
New York to work with the sides on the margins of the United Nations
General Assembly, as they had previously announced.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. -
are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.
From: A. Papazian
I.Huseynov
Trend
Sept 10 2010
Azerbaijan
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of
Russia, Bernard Fassier of France, and Robert Bradtke of the United
States strongly urged all parties to respect the cease-fire, OSCE
Minsk Group's official statement says.
While all parties reconfirmed their commitment to the 1994 cease-fire,
the Co-Chairs reiterated that it is critical that this commitment is
carried out in practice.
The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs travelled to Baku, Yerevan, and
Nagorno-Karabakh September 6-9.
On September 8, with the facilitation of the Permanent Representative
of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and the
military authorities of all sides, the Co-Chairs crossed the Line of
Contact (LoC) on foot, en route to Stepanakert/Khankhendi, to highlight
that the LoC is not to become a permanent barrier between neighboring
peoples and to demonstrate to all parties that the ceasefire of 1994
must be strictly respected. This marked the first time the mediators
have crossed the LoC since November 2001.
The Co-Chairs held discussions with all parties regarding the
previously agreed Field Assessment Mission to the territories
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, which they will conduct between late
September and mid-October. They presented the elements of their
mission, and they will finalize their preparations for the mission
in the nearest future.
The Co-Chairs welcomed the decision by Azerbaijan to postpone
consideration of its resolution in the United Nations General
Assembly. At the same time they reiterated that the OSCE Minsk
Group remains the sole framework for a peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Before they return to the region to carry out the Field Assessment
Mission, the Co-Chairs will travel to Washington, D.C. and then to
New York to work with the sides on the margins of the United Nations
General Assembly, as they had previously announced.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. -
are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.
From: A. Papazian