Azernews.Az

By Trend

The meeting of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and acting Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, to be held on Jan. 16 in Paris under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, further increases the hope for achieving peaceful settlement to the long-lasting Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Tural Ganjaliyev, chairman of the Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh Region of Azerbaijan, told Trend Jan. 15.

Ganjaliyev expressed hope that the meeting will give impetus to the fair settlement of the conflict.

“We are confident that the conflict’s settlement within the internationally recognized borders and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan will create new opportunities for regional cooperation and lead to sustainable development, stability and prosperity in the region, and also allow the Armenian people to take advantage of the projects being implemented at Azerbaijan’s initiative,” he said.

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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