Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 29 / Trend T. Hajiyev /
The Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh highly appreciates Russia's active policy to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"I express my gratitude to all, who assisted in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, regardless of a nation, position and activity, Bayram Safarov, the head of the Public Association "Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh of the Azerbaijan Republic" told Trend, commenting on the signing of the declaration in Astrakhan between the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia.
From this point of view, we appreciate Russia's active policy to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he said.
Astrakhan hosted the trilateral meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia on Oct. 27. The parties signed a declaration, which envisages the return of prisoners of war and takes a humanitarian nature. The special declaration is aimed to strengthen measures of trust, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.
Safarov expressed his hope to achieve progress in this issue at the OSCE summit to be held in Astana in early December.
"My dream, dreams of our community and every Azerbaijani are to liberate Karabakh from occupation," Safarov said.
The OSCE summit will be held in Astana in late December and will bring together the presidents and heads of governments of 56 member-states and 12 OSCE partner-countries, as well as heads of 68 international organizations.
A 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 seven 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 negotiations to resolve the dispute.
Armenia has failed to implement UN Security Council resolutions stipulating the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.