OSCE conducts 23 monitoring activities on contact line between Armenian, Azerbaijani armies in 2011

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 4 / Trend, E.Tariverdiyeva /

Last year, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Personal Representative, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and his team conducted 23 monitoring activities on ceasefire observance on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, the OSCE annual report says.

According to the report, Kasprzyk continued to assist and support the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in their efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

With the support of the Personal Representative and his team, the chairperson-in-Office visited the South Caucasus in March 2011, while the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs visited the conflict region seven times, in February, March, April, June, July, October and November.

Meetings were held with representatives of parties, including at the highest military and political level.

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 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.