Date of Azerbaijani, Armenian FM’s meeting revealed

The meeting will be mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group cochairs Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France and Andrew Schofer of the U.S. Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, will also join the meeting.

Mammadyarov noted that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have already completed preparations for the upcoming meeting, which will discuss the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan NagornoKarabakh conflict.

The conflict between two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the largescale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan has long ago stated it is ready to settle the conflict through direct negotiations with Armenia with mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group cochairs. However, the Armenian side is constantly trying to make up reasons to avoid a constructive dialogue and preserve the unacceptable status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.