Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that there are no discussions to change the OSCE Minsk Group, established to mediate for peaceful resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, Moscow can only hail constructive role of the OSCE MG member states, including Turkey, in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement, she said addressing a briefing on October 20.

“It is a direct responsibility of all the members of the OSCE MG to facilitate the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” said Zakharova.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, 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.

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.

Turkey is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, established to mediate between the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and supports the conflict resolution within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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