Bryza denies rumors about secret agreement on Karabakh conflict’s settlement

YEREVAN, November 17. /ARKA/. There is no secret agreement on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza at today’s press conference in Yerevan, denying rumors about Armenia’s “ambiguous” obligations.

According to Bryza, the OSCE Co-Chairs are for summing up negotiations over the issue, but “no secret agreements have been signed so far”.
The U.S. Co-Chair pointed out positive changes in the process after the Armenian and Azeri presidents met in Moscow on November 2, thanking Russia for that initiative.

Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan signed a trilateral agreement in Meiendorf Castle on November 2. The leaders of the three countries pledged to join efforts to improve the situation in the South Caucasus and charged the foreign ministers to continue negotiations over a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

According to Bryza, the Armenian and Azeri have started to trust and respect each other, changing their angle on the issue.

The U.S. co-chair stressed the importance of the OSCE Minsk Group’s mediation, saying the leaders of the three countries had charged their foreign ministers to start a constructive dialogue.

The Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Artsakh, mainly populated by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.

On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority of the population (99.89%) voted for independence from Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, large-scale military operations began as a result of which Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions adjacent to it.

On May 12, 1994 after the signing of the Bishkek cease-fire agreement, the military operations were stopped.

Since 1992, negotiations over the peaceful settlement of the conflict have been carried out within the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the USA, Russia and France. Z. Sh. –0--