Azerbaijan, Baku, 19 March / Trend corr S. Agayeva/ At present, Azerbaijan is not considering about changing the format of negotiations and replacement of the OSCE Minsk Group with other international organizations.
"Although the OSCE Minsk Group's co-chairing countries voted against the 'Resolution on the Situation in the Occupied Territory of Azerbaijan' at the UN General Assembly, Azerbaijan still intends to continue cooperation with the intermediaries," the Spokesperson for Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Khazar Ibrahim said to journalists on 19 March.
"The actions of co-chairs towards the resolution are odd and mistaken. On one hand, co-chairs support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and on the other hand, they oppose the resolution which envisages the very principle -which is called territorial integrity," he said.
Ibrahim did not rule out that this position may negatively affect work of the Minsk Group. It is known that the Azerbaijani MPs and public urge for changing the Minsk Group, which mediates in the negotiations on settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, into another international organization, particularly for the UN. "The co-chairing countries should seriously consider their position and should take such steps which will not impede the settlement process, but instead, will promote restoration of peace and stability in the region," Ibrahim said.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.