OSCE MG co-chairs to visit Azerbaijan
By Rashid Shirinov
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will visit Azerbaijan this week, MG Russian co-chair Igor Popov informed APA on March 6.
Popov said that in the course of the week, he, along with other co-chairs – Richard Hoagland of the U.S. and Stephane Visconti of France – will visit Azerbaijan.
In Baku, the co-chairs will meet with Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and mull the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
Popov said that the visit of the OSCE Minsk Group to Armenia will take place later.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, 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 ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
The OSCE Minsk Group, the activities of which have become known as the Minsk Process, works to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for over two decades, but in vain.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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