Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 11 / Trend E.Mehdiyev /
The U.S. is concerned over rights violations of Azerbaijanis expelled from their homelands as a result of war, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Thomas Melia said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"We are concerned over rights violations of Azerbaijanis expelled from their homelands as a result of war. We provided humanitarian assistance to the people belonging to this category. At the same time we are making diplomatic efforts to resolve the impasse between Armenia and Azerbaijan. To resolve the conflict within the OSCE Minsk Group the three OSCE co-chairs together with the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have to make efforts to find new ways of conflict resolution, " Thomas Melia said.
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 four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions