Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend K.Ramazanova / The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, stated at the meeting with the delegation of the California Senate on 24 September that the activity of the Armenian diasporas in the US California State is destructive.
Touching upon Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov said that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are the citizens of Azerbaijan and they may be provided with the high autonomy status only within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
The Head of the US delegation, Shell Kuel, highlighted the importance of settling the conflict peacefully within territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
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 the Azerbaijani land 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 the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.