German FM to discuss Karabakh conflict settlement in Baku

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 22

By Saba Aghayeva - Trend:

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will discuss the ways of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Baku.

Steinmeier will go on a tour of the Caucasus Oct. 22, including Baku and Yerevan, Deutsche Welle agency reported.

This visit must show that the EU, even amid the crisis in Ukraine, does not lose sight of the problems of other countries, including those of the "Eastern Partnership" organization, the report said.

Steinmeier will visit Baku to meet with Azerbaijani officials Oct. 23. Later Steinmeier will meet with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan.

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 four U.N. Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.