Monitoring expected on contact line of Azerbaijani, Armenian troops

OSCE is expected to monitor the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops June 22, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend June 21.

It is planned to hold the monitoring under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative on the contact line near the Aghdam village of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district, the ministry said.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring will be held by the field assistants of OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative Hristo Hristov and Simon Tiller.

On the opposite side, the monitoring will be carried out by the field assistants of OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative Jiri Aberle and Peter Svedberg.

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 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 the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

/By Trend/