Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be priority of Austria’s chairmanship in OSCE
By Rashid Shirinov
The necessity of resolution of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been emphasized again at the United Nations General Assembly. Thus, the Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be among the priorities of his country's presidency at the OSCE in 2017.
The FM made the remarks at the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S.
Sebastian Kurz assured that resolution of conflicts in the East of Ukraine, Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria will be among the priorities of Vienna’s chairmanship at the OSCE.
The presidency will pass to Austria in January 2017.
The previous day, presidents of Latvia and Estonia also emphasized at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly the necessity of settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict among other.
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. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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