Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 28
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
During the visit to the South Caucasus, OSCE Chairman, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacic will discuss the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the officials of Azerbaijan and Armenia, a diplomatic source told Trend April 28.
"Dacic's visit to Azerbaijan is scheduled for May 31," the source said. "Then he will visit Armenia and Georgia."
Serbia will chair the OSCE during the year. Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter headed the OSCE in 2014.
As an OSCE chairing country, Serbia intends to focus on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict settlement, Dacic said during a visit to Azerbaijan in September 2014.
"The Nagorno-Karabakh issue will be a priority for Serbia's OSCE Chairmanship," the minister said. "Of course, it is too early to talk about the new format. But we will objectively work with all sides."
During his chairmanship in the OSCE in 2015, Dacic promised to thoroughly deal with the settlement of crises and conflicts.
"Once again, I will visit the region and will make every effort for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement," he said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by CN
follow the author on Twitter: @Asebaa