OSCE: Committment by Azerbaijan, Armenia to prepare their populations for peace is very promising signal

21 February 2019 20:00 (UTC+04:00)

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Committment by Azerbaijan and Armenia to prepare their populations for peace is a very promising signal, Trend reports citing Thomas Greminger, Secretary General of the OSCE.

He made the remarks during the winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna.

“We hope to see progress in the Minsk process working towards a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The committment by the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan to prepare their populations for peace is a very promising signal. I would like to stress the need to intensify our efforts to work together contructively in all the existing mediation formats,” said Greminger.

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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