Azerbaijan, Baku, March 3 / Trend , E.Rustamov / "During the monitoring on the contact line, we heard shooting and therefore, decided to stop monitoring," Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office, said to press conference in Baku on March 3. "The sides give guarantee for my security, as well as security of our five representatives participating in monitoring. Therefore, I negatively assess the incident," Kasprzyk said.
He said that regarding the incident, he will prepare a report for his leadership and OSCE Minsk Group. "This report will be published," Kasprzyk said.
Monitoring of OSCE along the contact line between the Azerbaijani and Armenian armies near the Fuzuli-Horadiz Highway was interrupted on Feb. 26, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's press service told Trend .
Representatives from the both sides began monitoring. The officials kept in contact via radio about the situation. The Armenian forces later opened fire - allegedly at the Azerbaijani monitoring group. The group said the shots were deliberately aimed at them.
OSCE representative Andrzej Kasprzyk requested that the monitoring cease immediately. He then told the monitoring group on the Armenian side to investigate the incident.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December 1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7 districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
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