Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 25
By Anahanum Khidayatova - Trend:
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs appeal to Azerbaijan and Armenia in the strongest possible terms to avoid civilian casualties, the OSCE press office said Sept.25.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, express their serious concerns about Armenian and Azerbaijani forces using mortars and heavy weapons in and around civilian areas.
The use of such weapons represents an unacceptable escalation in the conflict, they said.
"We regret that these incidents took place on the eve of the agreed meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in New York," the OSCE MG co-chairs said.
Recently, a number of civilians in Azerbaijan were injured as a result of shelling by the Armenian armed forces.
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 US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
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