Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 9
By Anakhanim Hidayatova - Trend:
The OSCE Minsk Group is co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation, and the United States and is mandated to facilitate a political solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Spokeswoman to European Commission/Commissioner Maja Kocijancic said.
Kocijancic said that any change to the established format of the Minsk Group would require the agreement of the sides involved.
"The EU, while not a member of the Minsk Group, is strongly committed to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and fully supports the work of the Minsk Group," Kocijancic told Trend Feb. 9.
She was commenting on possible change to the Minsk Group format.
Earlier, deputy chairman of the Committee on Political Affairs and Security of the OSCE PA, MP Azay Guliyev said that he plans to raise the issue of increasing the number of co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group from three (US, Russia and France) to five (Turkey and Germany) at the OSCE PA winter session, to be held in Vienna in February.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries 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 four UN Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.