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OSCE chairman voices support to MG Karabakh conflict settlement

13 January 2017 [13:49] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Rashid Shirinov

Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz pledged support to the OSCE Minsk Group in its efforts to solve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Kurz made the statement on January 12 in his inaugural address to the OSCE Permanent Council as the new OSCE chairperson-in-office, the OSCE reported.

With regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Kurz noted the important contribution of his Personal Representative Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and the Head of the High-Level Planning Group, Colonel Hans Lampalzer.

One of Austria’s main priorities in the OSCE will be the collective work in the security field, aimed to avoid escalation of conflicts in the OSCE countries’ territories, said Kurz.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/157697.html

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