Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend S.Agayeva / Azerbaijan will start talks with the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh should Armenia recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and step back, Khezer Ibrahim, press secretary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, stated at a briefing on 17 September. He was commenting on a statement made by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian Ambassador Yuriy Merzlyakov and French Ambassador Bernard Fassier, on the need for the participation of the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh in further talks.
According to Ibrahim, Azerbaijan's position remains unchanged - at this stage the Armenian community's participation in negotiations is impossible. Azerbaijan expects the co-chairs to demand from Armenia a more constructive position on the resolution of the conflict. A possibility to hold meetings with the Presidents of the conflicting sides - Azerbaijan and Armenia during the upcoming summit of CIS heads of state in Dushanbe on 5 October will depend on the co-chairs' tour of Azerbaijan on 18 September.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988 due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time active hostilities ended. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.