Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4
Trend:
Foreign ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states made a statement on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, RIA Novosti reported July 4.
In their statement, the CSTO foreign ministers expressed support to the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg, as well as to the efforts of the mediators in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement.
Following the meeting of CSTO Foreign Ministers in Yerevan, there was made a joint statement, in which the meeting participants expressed support to the agreements reached during the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, read a message posted on the website of Armenia’s Foreign Ministry.
The document reads that those agreements are aimed at preventing the escalation of the situation in the conflict zone, stabilizing the situation and creating conditions for promoting the peace process.
“Confirming the necessity of solely peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, we express support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group to resolve the conflict based on international law, the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act’s provisions, in particular those regarding the use of force or threat of force, territorial integrity, equality and the right of peoples to self-determination,” said the statement.
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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.