OSCE TO MONITOR CEASEFIRE IN KARABAKH CONFLICT ZONE
Journal of Turkish Weekly
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/141784/osce-to-monitor-ceasefire-in-karabakh-conflict-zone.html
Sept 12 2012
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will on
Wednesday check the way a ceasefire is being observed on the contact
line between the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh,
the unrecognized republic's Foreign Ministry reported.
The predominantly Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh claimed
independence from Azerbaijan in the late 1980s, triggering a bloody
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan which left more than 30,000
people dead on both sides between 1988 and 1994. The region has since
remained under Armenian control.
There have been an increasing number of shootouts along the line of
contact between the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, as well as at
the border between the two states.
The OSCE Minsk Group, comprising the United States, Russia and France,
mediates the conflict.
Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been further aggravated
by the extradition and subsequent pardoning of Azerbaijani serviceman
Ramil Safarov, who killed an Armenian serviceman eight years ago.
Safarov had been serving a life sentence with a possibility of parole
only after 25 years for killing an Armenian soldier during a NATO
training event in Hungary's capital Budapest in 2004. He attacked
Gurgen Margaryan with an ax as the Armenian slept, striking him an
alleged 16 times.
In August, Hungary extradited Safarov to Azerbaijan, where he was
pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev, greeted as a national hero and
promoted to the rank of major. Hungary said it had agreed to return
Safarov to Azerbaijan after receiving assurances that his sentence
would be enforced.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said earlier in September he hopes
tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the pardoned killer
would not affect the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.
Journal of Turkish Weekly
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/141784/osce-to-monitor-ceasefire-in-karabakh-conflict-zone.html
Sept 12 2012
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will on
Wednesday check the way a ceasefire is being observed on the contact
line between the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh,
the unrecognized republic's Foreign Ministry reported.
The predominantly Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh claimed
independence from Azerbaijan in the late 1980s, triggering a bloody
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan which left more than 30,000
people dead on both sides between 1988 and 1994. The region has since
remained under Armenian control.
There have been an increasing number of shootouts along the line of
contact between the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, as well as at
the border between the two states.
The OSCE Minsk Group, comprising the United States, Russia and France,
mediates the conflict.
Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been further aggravated
by the extradition and subsequent pardoning of Azerbaijani serviceman
Ramil Safarov, who killed an Armenian serviceman eight years ago.
Safarov had been serving a life sentence with a possibility of parole
only after 25 years for killing an Armenian soldier during a NATO
training event in Hungary's capital Budapest in 2004. He attacked
Gurgen Margaryan with an ax as the Armenian slept, striking him an
alleged 16 times.
In August, Hungary extradited Safarov to Azerbaijan, where he was
pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev, greeted as a national hero and
promoted to the rank of major. Hungary said it had agreed to return
Safarov to Azerbaijan after receiving assurances that his sentence
would be enforced.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said earlier in September he hopes
tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the pardoned killer
would not affect the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.