Azerbaijani Foreign Minister: Azerbaijan agrees witth OSCE Minsk Group proposal on Kalbajar, Lachin

Azerbaijan agrees with an OSCE Minsk Group proposal on de-occupation of Kalbajar and Lachin regions in the course of five years, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said at a press conference in Baku today.

The minister said that Armenia proposed to return Kalbajar and Lachin regions to the administrative control of Azerbaijan in the course of ten years during Robert Kocharian’s presidency. But Baku insisted on one-year term.

"Yerevan reduced the term up to seven years under President Serzh Sargsyan at the initial stage of negotiations, while Azerbaijan proposed the withdrawal of Armenian troops from  Kalbajar and Lachin in the course of three years," the minister said.

The minister added that OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs propose to liberate these two regions in the course of five years. Azerbaijan has agreed with this proposal.

At the lastest meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in St. Petersburg, Russia made several proposals to resolve the conflict, including liberation of Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar and Lachin regions, the minister noted.

In response to question about deployment of peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, the minister reminded that a relevant decision was made at the OSCE summit in Budapest.

According to the decision, peacekeepers must belong neither to OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries nor countries in the region.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 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 the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.


/Trend/