' Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved in near future'

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved in the near future, First Deputy Director General of ITAR-TASS Mikhail Gusman said today.

He added that Azerbaijan is achieving the implementation of the decisions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, which were adopted by the UN.

It is very important that there is still time to resolve this issue peacefully, he added.

"First of all, it is necessary to solve the problem of Azerbaijan's occupied territories," he said. "Azerbaijan has the largest number of refugees in the world. It is impossible to tolerate this for a long time."

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia 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.


/Trend/