Azerbaijani deputy PM: Minsk Group co-chairs should strive more for just decision to be taken

Azerbaijani deputy PM: Minsk Group co-chairs should strive more for just decision to be taken
# 14 June 2017 11:59 (UTC +04:00)

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs should strive more in order for a just decision to be taken on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ali Ahmadov, Azerbaijan’s deputy prime minister, said on Wednesday, APA reported.

“We have expectations from the co-chairs’ upcoming visit to the region. They should strive more in order for a just decision to be made. Their role should not be limited to trips to the region alone,” Ahmadov said.

He expressed regret that no decisive action has been taken towards resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict despite the OSCE Minsk Group having been working for years.

“To be honest, they do their work somehow. However, no substantial work has been done to resolve the conflict and to improve the refugees’ lives,” said the deputy premier, adding. “Our lands are still occupied. The refugees and IDPs have not returned to their homeland. That’s what we expect of them. This conflict took too long. This delay, in turn, means the continuation of injustice against our people and at the same time increased threat to regional security.”

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in December 1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nagorno Garabagh

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