Today, the Azerbaijani Defence Minister, Colonel General Safar Abiyev met with the Deputy Secretary General of OSCE Adam Kobieracki, the press service of the Defence Ministry reported on Thursday. During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the tense military and political situation created in the region by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as other issues.
Focusing on the reasons for failure to resolve the conflict, the Minister of Defence of Azerbaijan mentioned that to date the four resolutions adopted by the UN on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions have not been fulfilled. Abiyev also said more than 20 years of activity of the OSCE Minsk Group yielded no results.
A waiting attitude of international organisations provides support to aggressors such as Armenia, the minister said.
Responding to Kobieracki’s question on the possibility of Armenian aircraft flying to Khankendy, Abiyev said “flights may only be operated when the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved. And for this, first of all, the Armenian troops should withdraw from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” Abiyev added.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven 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 peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
/Trend/
