OSCE head hopes for progress at meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian FMs

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, hopes that at the upcoming meeting of foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Paris some progress will be achieved in talks on Karabakh, Novosti-Armenia reported.

The meeting of foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan is scheduled for June 18 in Paris at the suggestion of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"Paris should host a meeting, which will help give new life to the negotiation process. OSCE supports the sides - we can not think of a solution, but we can help those who are involved in this process," Gilmore said on Tuesday at a joint press conference with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

Gilmore said for the parties to the conflict it is time to take action, be prepared to make compromises that are important to reach a peace agreement.

"For people to live in peace, we first need to end the violence. There is a ground for this - the principles of peaceful settlement have been approved, there is a mechanism of the OSCE Minsk Group on holding negotiations. We need to see progress, secured through the negotiation process," he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven 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 peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.


/Trend/