Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.23 / Trend, S. Agayeva /
The new French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Jacques Faure will take up his duties in January, a diplomatic source in France told Trend on Wednesday.
He will replace the current French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier, who will complete his mission by late 2011.
Fassier plans to pay his last visit to the region in late November.
Currently Faure is the French Ambassador to Ukraine.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent 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 the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.