Baku, Azerbaijan, August 1
By Sabina Ahmadova - Trend:
The U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, James Warlick has commented on the escalation of the situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian contact line.
"We are seriously concerned about the recent upsurge in violence along the line of contact. The ceasefire needs to be respected," Warlick wrote on his Twitter page.
Around eight servicemen of Azerbaijani armed forces have been killed during the fighting over the last three days, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on August 1.
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 U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by CN