Baku, Azerbaijan, April 30
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
Bulgaria's ex-president Petar Stoyanov hopes the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be settled.
"This is not only political question, this is a question of humanity," Stoyanov told Trend on April 30.
"Over one million people became refugees, which is very terrible," the ex-president said.
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.
More than one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs as a result of Armenia's occupation of the Azerbaijani territories.
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.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by S.I.