Baku, Azerbaijan, March 23
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Throughout 2017, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk and his team conducted monitoring exercises, providing a continuous review of the situation on the ground related to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, according to OSCE’s 2017 report.
“The Office played an active role in assisting the Chairperson-in-Office and the co-chairs of the Minsk Group (MG) in advancing the peace process, responding quickly to any outbreaks of violence and informing about developments on the ground. Ambassador Kasprzyk continued to look for opportunities to promote further confidence-building measures with the consent of the sides,“ said the report.
With the support of the sides, Ambassador Kasprzyk and his team conducted 24 monitoring exercises, six on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and 18 on the Line of Contact. These activities also enabled representatives of the High-Level Planning Group to visit the region four times, the report reads.
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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.