Azernews.Az

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met PACE Monitoring Committee co-rapporteurs Pedro Agramunt Fonta de Mora and Joseph Debono Grech on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said.

The sides exchanged views on ways to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh and noted that this unresolved conflict creates serious impediments to the development of the region.

The minister informed the co-rapporteurs that the Armenian side is pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijan, at the same time evading negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The co-rapporteurs noted that they understand the concern of Azerbaijan, and added that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh will be included in the report, which they will prepare.

Mammadyarov said the activity of Khojaly airport is illegal, and emphasized that it is detrimental to the peace process.

Khojaly is a town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, now under the control of the armed forces of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic run by ethnic Armenians, which has not been recognized by the world community.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.