OSCE to monitor Azerbaijani, Armenian troops’ contact line

The OSCE is expected to monitor the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops Sept. 14, said Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry Sept. 13.

The monitoring will be held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative along the line of contact near Alkhanly village of Azerbaijan’s Fizuli district, said the ministry.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring will be held by Jiri Aberle, Peter Svedberg, Simon Tiller, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the opposite side, the monitoring will be carried out by Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office, Ghenadii Petrica and Hristo Hristov, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

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.