Azerbaijan, Baku, 29 March / Trend / Replacement of the OSCE Minsk Group's co-chairs, who are engaged in settling of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, by other intermediaries will not give results, ITV quoted MP Mubariz Gurbanli, the deputy executive secretary of Azerbaijan's governing New Azerbaijan Party (NAP).
"Three countries - France, Russia and the United States - are represented in the OSCE Minsk Group and they are the permanent members of the UN Security Council and of the G8. The three countries have great authority in the world. Which other countries can replace them? Intermediary should be strong. If strong intermediaries fail to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, so how will weak intermediaries do that? Through strong countries we have more chances to achieve the goal. Formal participation of weak countries at the Minsk Group will give no result. The problem can be solved within the framework of the OSCEK Minks Group through sticking to the principle 'the strong one is the right one'," Gurbanli said.
Several days ago Azerbaijan sent a letter to the OSCE Secretariat urging to recall or replace the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
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 the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.