Azerbaijani, Armenian FMs to meet in Slovakia for peace talks
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
A meeting between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan will be held soon through the mediation of the OSCE chairperson-in-office in Bratislava, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovakia’s Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajcak, said in an interview with the Voice of America on October 22.
The date of the meeting has not been revealed yet.
Mammadyarov and Mnatsakanyan last met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2019.
Commenting on the core of the upcoming meeting, Miroslav Lajcak said that the parties will discuss the prospects for the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
He expects to receive both FMs of the two countries soon in Bratislava.
Lajcak further said that he highly appreciates the efforts being made by the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders to resolve the conflict.
"During the year, we saw positive signals, dialogue between leaders at the ministerial level. At the same time, disturbing incidents were observed on the contact line, which led to human losses. However, now the situation seems to be stable," Lajcak commented.
In an interview with Voice of America, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger pointed out that the mediators, represented by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, continue to actively participate in the negotiations. However, serious progress may be achieved first of all thanks to the political decision of the leaders of the two countries, he added.
"The positive attitude, the positive dynamics that we observed during the meeting in Dushanbe in September 2018 have not yet turned into real progress in the conflict settlement," Greminger noted.
The OSCE Minsk Group has been negotiating the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since 1992.
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh region began in February 1988 upon Armenia's territorial claims to Azerbaijan. The authorities of Azerbaijan lost control over the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding seven regions during the subsequent military conflict.
Since 1992, negotiations have been underway for a peaceful settlement of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. In 1993, the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) on unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijan's territories. However, due to the unconstructiveness of Armenia, these resolutions remain on paper.
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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94
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