Azerbaijan, Baku, July 5 / Trend T. Hajiyev /
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev called on countries - the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen to take more effective measures to stop the occupation policy of the aggressor.
First, Armenia must withdraw its occupying forces from Azerbaijani territory to resolve the conflict peacefully, the minister said at a meeting with the OSCE Minsk group co-chairmen, the press-service of the Defense Ministry said.
Recalling that it is stipulated by decisions and resolutions adopted by the international organizations, the minister said that otherwise serious problems can occur.
Today mediators in Baku have held talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, head of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh Bajram Safarov.
The mediators arrived in Baku on Saturday after a visit to Khankendi and Yerevan. They discussed the process of resolving of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict there.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.