Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

OSCE Minsk Group is waiting for productive talks on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between the two countries’ foreign ministers, the U.S. co-chair of Minsk Group has said.

James Warlick wrote on Twitter that he arrived in New York to meet with the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers.

“Arrived in New York this afternoon to meet with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. We look forward to productive talks,” he wrote.

Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian, will meet in New York on September 24-25 within the UN General Assembly.

Mammadyarov earlier said he and the Armenian FM will first meet with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and then a joint meeting will be held.

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 to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which emerged in 1988 over Armenia’s illegal territorial claim against Azerbaijan, have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the co-chair countries over the past 20 years.

The bloody war, which flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan, left 700,000 civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the regions adjoining it, as well as the regions bordering with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh without homes.

Moreover, 250,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia and became refugees due to Armenia's ethnic cleansing policy after the emergence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan.

--

Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz