Azerbaijan, Baku, 27 June /corr. Trend M.Aliyev/ "Participation of the Nagorno-Karabakh population in the negotiation process may be realized after co-ordinating separate items in the negotiations," the Russian Co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuri Merzlyakov, told Trend on 27 June in Baku.
"Sooner or later the Nagorno-Karabakh population will attend the negotiation process, but it will take place after the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan agree upon the base principles of agreement within Madrid talks," Merzlyakov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries appeared in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. Since 1992 to the present time, these territories have been under Armenian occupation. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA) are holding peaceful negotiations.
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