Azerbaijan, Baku, 3 June / Trend corr. E.Huseynli / The Azerbaijani Defence Minister stated that Armenia must liberate the Azerbaijani occupied territories soon without any conditions. "If the Armenians will not leave the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, then the situation may be out of control," Safar Abiyev, Azerbaijani Defence Minister, said in the meeting with Matthew Bryza, the OSCE American co-chair. Matthew Bryza is on his visit to Baku.
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.
The Minsk Group was established with participation of 10 countries within the framework of OSCE to regulate the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The meeting was focused on the military and political situation in the region and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
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