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OSCE expresses concerns about Armenia-Azerbaijan border incidents

16 January 2014 17:51 (UTC+04:00)
OSCE expresses concerns about Armenia-Azerbaijan border incidents

By Sara Rajabova

The head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expresses concerns over incidents on the contact line between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter made the remark at the OSCE Permanent Council, on January16.

Burkhalter also noted that the high-level contacts have intensified after the meeting between presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Vienna in November 2013.

He said that there have been some encouraging signs concerning Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in recent weeks in the South Caucasus.

He stressed that Swiss chairmanship of OSCE will step up peace efforts by the Minsk Group co-chairs through the personal representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, who will also encourage contacts between the civil societies of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Burkhalter discussed the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs - Igor Popov (Russia), Jacques Faure (France) and James Warlick (U.S.) and Kasprzyk in Bern on January 14.

He expressed satisfaction with the co-chairs' mediation efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Prior to his appointment as OSCE Chairman, Burkhalter voiced readiness to promote the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The ceasefire violations continue to claim the life of innocent people as Armenia keeps the Azerbaijani territories under occupation for more the 20 years. Ceasefire breaches by Armenian armed forces have kept tension high on the front line.

Frequent ceasefire violations occur almost every day, causing great hardship for the people living near the frontline, as they are unable to live normal everyday lives and are always under a threat.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs, dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

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