Baku, Azerbaijan, July 14
By Anakhanum Idayatova – Trend:
Settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will remain among the priorities during Austria’s OSCE chairmanship, said Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz.
He was commenting on priorities during his country’s upcoming OSCE chairmanship July 14 at an OSCE meeting in Vienna.
Kurz said the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is of particular concern and the OSCE considers its settlement as important, especially after the escalation of tension along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in April.
He added that Austria will continue working for settlement of all conflicts in the OSCE area.
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.
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