OSCE Chairman to visit South Caucasus
By Rashid Shirinov
OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz will visit the South Caucasus region this year.
The OSCE Chairmanship press-service noted that the exact date of the visit has not been set yet.
Every year, countries chairing the OSCE visit Azerbaijan and Armenia – states that are parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Last year, former Chairperson of the OSCE, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter-Steinmeier visited Azerbaijan on June 30. In 2015, this position was held by Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic; he visited the region on June 1 of that year.
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.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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