Azerbaijan, Baku, 9 April / corr. Trend J. Babayeva/ On 9 April, nearly 25 supporters of Muasir Musavat party held a rally in front of U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan. The demonstrators protested against the fact that U.S. voted against the Resolution on Occupied Territory of Azerbaijan which was discussed in UN General Assembly on 14 March.
The rally demanded the OSCE Minsk Group to cease its activity. The police dispersed the unauthorized rally. The demonstrators handed over an appeal to the representatives of U.S. Embassy.
The 'Resolution on Occupied Territory of Azerbaijan' demands full and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian Armed Forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Some 39 countries voted for the Resolution and 7 countries including Angola, Armenia, France, Russia, U.S., India and Vanuatu voted against it, and 100 UN member states including EU countries abstained from voting.
The official Baku sent an inquiry to OSCE to obtain information on procedure of replacement of co-chairmen countries or Minsk Group co-chairmen themselves. Azerbaijan has also expressed its protest to India who voted against.
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.