BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18
Trend:
The next ceasefire monitoring exercise on the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border in the direction of Tovuz district, conducted by the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, in accordance with its mandate, ended with no incident on Dec.18, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
The Personal Representative's field assistants Ghenadie Petrica and Simon Tiller carried out the monitoring exercise from the territory of Azerbaijan.
The Personal Representative's field assistants Ognjen Jovic, Mihail Olaru and Martin Schuster carried out the monitoring from the other side of the border.
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, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.