Baku, Azerbaijan, April 29
By Sabina Ahmadova - Trend:
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has met his Hungarian counterpart Janos Martonyi to discuss the prospects for development of bilateral relations between the two countries, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on April 29.
The meeting took place in Budapest, Hungary, where Mammadyarov will attend the informal gathering of foreign ministers of Visegrad Group and Eastern Partnership countries.
The two foreign ministers also had discussions on cooperation in the spheres of energy, trade, culture and tourism, according to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
Mammadyarov briefed his Hungarian counterpart about the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stressed the importance of withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
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 U.S. are currently holding 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.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by C.N.