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The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group are expecting progress on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement from the meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Prague, French co-chairman Bernard Fassier told Trend News. “We look forward to further progress. The co-chairman countries presented the final version of the basic principles to the parties two years ago, in late 2007, and we hope that the leaders can make a progress in the validation of these principles,” – said Fassier.
The Presidents of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev and Armenia Serj Sargsyan will meet on 7 May in Prague to continue direct talks to resolve the Karabakh conflict. He said that mutual understanding exists on the majority of items between the sides, and it is now necessary to reach an understanding on the remaining principles, “that we seek.”
The Prague meeting will be the fourth meeting between the Presidents after the St. Petersburg meeting a year ago, in June last year, which was very constructive. Also a constructive meeting took place with the signing of the Moscow Declaration where the Presidents agreed that it is very important that the solution can be political based on all the principles and norms of international law. Later, they met in Zurich in late January 2009, and it was another positive meeting. And we hope that the fourth will be even more constructive,” said Fassier. “We very much hope that in this framework, Prague will be a continuation of constructive meetings,” he said.
Fassier said that the meeting will be held in an usual format. “From the beginning, the co-chairmen and the ministers at the same time will meet with the Presidents, later the two Presidents will have a face-to-face meeting, and later will again invite the ministers and co-chairmen to listen to how they evaluate the talks and continue to work together to clarify some points and agree upon the next stage of the negotiation process,” said Fassier.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.
