Today.Az » Politics » OSCE head hopes for further progress in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement
12 May 2009 [08:32] - Today.Az
The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis welcomed the constructive discussions between President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President Serzh Sarksyan of Armenia and expressed hope that the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would make further progress towards a peaceful settlement, the OSCE press release said.
During the EU summit Eastern Partnership in Prague, Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia held meetings in the U.S. Embassy and discussed the issue on resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
This meeting on the highest level was the 4th meeting between Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sarksyan on resolution to Karabakh conflict. The previous meeting was held in Zurich on Jan. 28, 2009. The first meeting was held in St.Petersburg in June and second in Moscow in November 2008.
Speaking ahead of the 15th anniversary of the ceasefire agreement that ended one of the most violent conflicts in the area of the former Soviet Union, Bakoyannis them to implement fully the provisions of the
ceasefire, including pulling back snipers from the front lines.
The ceasefire entered into force on 12 May 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
"I fully support the efforts of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, as well as of my Personal Representative, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, to encourage a peaceful and negotiated resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, on the basis of the Madrid Document," Bakoyannis said. "Such a settlement is the only way for the peoples of the region to enjoy the fruits of peace and cooperation and we must keep up the momentum that all sides have worked so hard to achieve," she said.
Proposals of the Minsk Group which were officially submitted to the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the Madrid OSCE summit in November 2007 are basis of the negotiations talks. These proposals which are known as "basic principles" are the result of several meetings of foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2004 in Prague, called "the Prague process".
The "basic principles" envisages the final definition of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh through nation-wide voting at the last stage of the peace process, after all other measures of confidence are taken, including non-use of force, gradual withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories, return of internally displaced persons to their lands and restoration of trade and relations.
Despite the important ceasefire that was signed 15 years ago, the situation on the ground remains extremely volatile, and tragically, lives continue to be lost, Bakoyannis said. She said further confidence-building
measures are necessary.
"I urge the parties to respect all provisions of the ceasefire, as well as the proposals of the Co-Chairs at the 2008 Helsinki OSCE Ministerial Conference to withdraw snipers from the front lines," Bakoyannis said.
In December 2008, Helsinki hosted a 5-sided meeting of foreign ministers of Russia and France, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The co-chair-countries' representatives have made the statement sounded by the Russian Minister which "urged the sides of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to make joint efforts with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to complete coordinating the basic principles of resolving [the conflict] in the coming months, and then to develop a draft of a comprehensive peace agreement on the agreed basis".
The sides who signed the statement reaffirmed their "firm view that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has no military solution" and encouraged the parties of the conflict "to reaffirm their commitments to a peaceful settlement".
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.
/Trend News/
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