OSCE MG co-chairs to meet with Azerbaijani, Armenian FMs in mid-November

After organizing the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Geneva on October 16, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs pledged to meet with the two countries foreign ministers in the near future.

After organizing the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Geneva on October 16, the OSCE Minsk Group cochairs pledged to meet with the two countries foreign ministers in the near future. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov announced on October 30 that the co-chairs will meet with Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers in mid-November.

Mammadyarov, who was addressing a press conference in Baku, noted it is not yet clear where the meeting will be held, but it is known that the Minsk Group co-chairs will meet separately with each of the ministers.

“Under the instructions of the head of state, we are trying to intensify the negotiations process. Currently, we are working on this,” said Mammadyarov.

After the meeting in Geneva, the Minsk Group reported that the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to take measures to intensify the negotiation process on the settlement of the NagornoKarabakh conflict and to take additional steps to reduce tensions along the frontline.

“Naturally, it is necessary to intensify the negotiations primarily at the level of foreign ministers,” Mammadyarov noted, “Thus, the co-chairs contacted the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides and the preliminary dates of the meeting have been determined.”

The foreign minister added that the exact date and venue of the meeting will be determined in the near future.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years. Today Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.