Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 1
By Anakhanum Hidayatova – Trend:
OSCE Minsk Group (MG) co-chairs are working to organize the next meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, Richard Hoagland, US interim co-chair of the OSCE MG, told Trend.
“My fellow co-chairs and I are currently discussing in principle when the ministers might next meet in the future and the most appropriate time for our next co-chair trip to the region,” he said.
“I look forward to the opportunity,” added Hoagland.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has earlier said there is a plan to hold a meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs at the Munich Security Conference, to be held Feb. 17-19.
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.