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Switzerland seeks to promote Nagorno-Karabakh conflict solution

28 December 2013 14:34 (UTC+04:00)
Switzerland seeks to promote Nagorno-Karabakh conflict solution

By Sara Rajabova

Switzerland voiced readiness to promote the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Switzerland, as a chairman of the OSCE, will look into possibilities to promote dialogue and confidence building measures between the parties of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by actively supporting and strengthening existing mediation schemes such as the OSCE Minsk process.

Federal Councillor, head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) of Switzerland and Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE for 2014, Didier Burkhalter made the remark in his interview with Trend Agency.

Burkhalter further said Switzerland will try to facilitate people to people contacts and support civil society projects in the region.

Upon Switzerland's assumption of the OSCE chairmanship on January 1, 2014, Ambassador Angelo Gnadinger will take up the post of Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Burkhalter said.

He noted that among other responsibilities, he will act as the OSCE co-chair of the Geneva Discussions on security and stability in the South Caucasus.

Burkhalter said like previous Special Representatives for the South Caucasus, Gnadinger will support the OSCE's mediation efforts and will accompany the activities of the OSCE representations in the region.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

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