Baku, Yerevan mull upcoming Paris meeting
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers have discussed preparatory work for the upcoming meeting of the two presidents in Paris.
Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian met in New York on September 23 on the sidelines of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly, Azerbaijan's foreign ministry reported.
The sides continued the negotiations on resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and discussed the preparation for the upcoming Paris meeting.
The ministry informed that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs also took part in the meeting of the ministers.
Earlier, U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said the Minsk Group expects a trilateral meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and France in Paris in late October.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan last time met on September 4 on the sidelines of NATO Wales summit upon the initiative and participation of U.S. Secretary of State Kerry.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted back in 1988 over Armenia's 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 and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.