Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 10
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
Activity of the OSCE Minsk Group (MG) has not produced any results and in such circumstances there is a need to take drastic steps, Ali Ahmadov, Azerbaijani deputy prime minister, told reporters in Baku Dec. 10.
Ahmadov said that delaying the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement is a threat not only for Azerbaijan, but also for the whole region.
“I think the Minsk Group must make a serious turn in its activity,” he noted.
“Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed its position that if the Minsk Group doesn’t change its activity and achieve the conflict’s settlement, then a question arises: how logical is it to keep the current composition of the Minsk Group,” added Ahmadov.
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.