Azerbaijan, Baku, 30 March / corr. Trend K. Ramazanova/ Washington believes that it is high time for Azerbaijan and Armenia to reach a consensus on the Basic Principles, said to Trend Matthew Bryza, the American co-chair of Minsk Group on settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on 30 March.
In late 2007, the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk group introduced Azerbaijan and Armenia Basic Principles on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for the first time.
The UN General Assembly supported the Resolution on the Situation in the Occupied Lands of Azerbaijan on 14 March. The Resolution developed by Azerbaijan demands immediate, full and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan.
All OSCE Minsk group member states voted against the Resolution. Russia and France made every effort to hinder the Resolution, Agshin Mehdiyev, the Azerbaijani ambassador to UN said to Trend earlier. Azerbaijan has appealed OSCE to know the reasons of why OSCE Minsk Group member states refused to vote for the Resolution, Araz Azimov, the deputy foreign minister of Azerbaijan 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 the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.