Details were added after the fourth paragraph (the first version was posted at 14:30)
Azerbaijan, Baku, June 14 / Trend A. Badalova/
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was at the centre of discussions during the visit to Baku and the region, the OSCE chairperson, Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore said at a press conference in Baku today.
"The OSCE calls on the sides to continue work on the main principles, to refrain from the use of force and to remove snipers from the Armenian-Azerbaijani contact line," he said.
The time has come to build up confidence and trust," he said. "OSCE supports the efforts of the Minsk Group." He recalled that the OSCE makes all decisions on the basis of consensus.
"This is the only organisation in the world with 56 member states which come to an agreement on the basis of consensus," Gilmore said.
He also said that the OSCE has clear principles for the peaceful settlement of conflicts.
"That is why, we have created a set of principles," he said. "The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may be resolved on the basis of these principles. These principles will be agreed with the countries concerned."
Gilmore said that the OSCE will continue working for the parties to come to a peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
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 US - 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.