OSCE Chairman’s Personal Representative meets with Nagorno-Karabakh separatists
By Sara Rajabova
OSCE Chairman-in-Office Personal Representative, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk met with the separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh -- the Azerbaijani region under the Armenian occupation.
Kasprzyk met with the representative of Nagorno-Karabakh separatists Karen Mirzoyan on August 31, Armenian media reported.
During the meeting, Kasprzyk spoke about the situation on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani Armed Forces, as well as monitorings conducted by the office of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in the Azerbaijani territory under Armenian occupation.
The OSCE representatives hold regular monitoring on the Armenian-Azerbaijani frontline every month.
Last time, in accordance with the mandate of special envoy of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the OSCE mission conducted a monitoring on troops contact line in the west of Alibayli village of Azerbaijan`s Tovuz region on August 14. The monitoring ended without incident.
Despite, the monitoring by the OSCE representatives the situation on the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces remains tense due to frequent ceasefire violations by the Armenian troops.
The Armenian forces almost every day open fire at the Azerbaijani positions in different areas of the frontline -- mostly in Gazakh, Aghdam, Fizuli, Goranboy and Terter regions.
A precarious ceasefire, reached after a lengthy war that displaced over a million Azerbaijanis, has been in place between the two South Caucasus countries since 1994. Since the hostilities, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Peace talks are brokered by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs representing the United States, Russia and France. The negotiations are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons to return home.