Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. E.Huseynli / A meeting of the heads of the Azerbaijani and Armenian Communities of Nagorno-Karabakh may be held within the framework of OSCE's Minsk Group format, Nizami Bahmanov, the head of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Kabakh, said on 17 October. The present format of the Minsk Group satisfies Azerbaijan in settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
"The format affects the interests of all countries which have conflicts," Bahmanov said.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. 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 the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.
According to Bahmanov, technical issues concerning the meeting are being discussed.
"Formation of a new format may cause damage to Azerbaijan's interests," Bahmanov said. We should carefully approach the issue.