Azerbaijan, Baku, May 11 / Trend , E.Ostapenko/
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs expressed their hope that the present leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia will be able to overcome the complex causes and difficult consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and create an atmosphere of security, trust, cooperation and fruitful communication between peoples in the region, the Minsk Group's joint statement said.
"We sincerely hope that a peace settlement, towards which the parties are now working, will allow new generations to grow up in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh without experiencing the horrors of war," the statement said.
The Minsk Group co-chairs also hoped the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia will succeed in finalizing their Basic Principles for a peaceful settlement.
The "basic principles" envisages the final definition of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh through nation-wide voting at the last stage of the peace process, after all other measures of confidence are taken, including non-use of force, gradual withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories, return of internally displaced persons to their lands and restoration of trade and relations. The "basic principles" are the result of several meetings of foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2004 in Prague, called "the Prague process".
The co-chairs regretted that the ceasefire signed in May 1994 has been imperfect and tragically every year lives are lost along the front lines.
"We call on the parties to implement the provisions of the ceasefire, as well as the Co-Chairs' proposals at the 2008 Helsinki Ministerial Conference to pull back snipers from the front lines," the statement said.
In December 2008, Helsinki hosted a 5-sided meeting of foreign ministers of Russia and France, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The co-chair-countries' representatives have made the statement sounded by the Russian Minister which "urged the sides of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to make joint efforts with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to complete coordinating the basic principles of resolving [the conflict] in the coming months, and then to develop a draft of a comprehensive peace agreement on the agreed basis".
The sides who signed the statement reaffirmed their "firm view that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has no military solution" and encouraged the parties of the conflict "to reaffirm their commitments to a peaceful settlement".
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.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at [email protected]