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AzerNews. Azerbaijan
May 27 2013
Karabakh mediators plan to arrange presidential talks this year
27 MAY 2013, 12:15 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
The OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict intend to organize the next meeting of the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents this year.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the
early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian
armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's
internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and
seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four
resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory,
but Armenia has not followed them to this day.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Igor Popov of Russia, Jacques
Faure of France and Ian Kelly of the United States - and Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk
traveled to the region on May 23-24. The co-chairs met with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on May 23, and Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan on May 24.
The presidents and the co-chairs discussed developments since their
last meetings, reiterated their commitment to the peace process, and
exchanged views on the need for a summit later this year.
The mediators expressed their readiness to explore ideas for moving
the process forward, and reiterated the need to avoid actions or
rhetoric that could raise tensions or damage the negotiations. They
will meet with the foreign ministers in the coming weeks to explore
mutually acceptable approaches to resolving the long-standing
conflict.
Before the co-chairs' visit to the region, Foreign Ministers Elmar
Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian met in Poland on May 17, where the
ministers together with the Minsk Group mediators discussed possible
ways to advance the peace process.
The ministers exchanged views on the current situation and reaffirmed
their commitment to promoting peace in the region.
Russia, France and the U.S. have long been working to broker a
solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the Minsk Group, but
their efforts have been largely fruitless so far.
Peace talks are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by
the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known
as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the
territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control;
determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor
linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally
displaced persons to return home.
May 27 2013
Karabakh mediators plan to arrange presidential talks this year
27 MAY 2013, 12:15 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
The OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict intend to organize the next meeting of the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents this year.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the
early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian
armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's
internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and
seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four
resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory,
but Armenia has not followed them to this day.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Igor Popov of Russia, Jacques
Faure of France and Ian Kelly of the United States - and Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk
traveled to the region on May 23-24. The co-chairs met with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on May 23, and Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan on May 24.
The presidents and the co-chairs discussed developments since their
last meetings, reiterated their commitment to the peace process, and
exchanged views on the need for a summit later this year.
The mediators expressed their readiness to explore ideas for moving
the process forward, and reiterated the need to avoid actions or
rhetoric that could raise tensions or damage the negotiations. They
will meet with the foreign ministers in the coming weeks to explore
mutually acceptable approaches to resolving the long-standing
conflict.
Before the co-chairs' visit to the region, Foreign Ministers Elmar
Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian met in Poland on May 17, where the
ministers together with the Minsk Group mediators discussed possible
ways to advance the peace process.
The ministers exchanged views on the current situation and reaffirmed
their commitment to promoting peace in the region.
Russia, France and the U.S. have long been working to broker a
solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the Minsk Group, but
their efforts have been largely fruitless so far.
Peace talks are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by
the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known
as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the
territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control;
determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor
linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally
displaced persons to return home.