Armenia ready to continue Karabakh talks staying committed to proposals by OSCE Minsk group co-chairs- FM
25.07.2012,
14:20
Armenia is ready to continue peace talks around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict staying committed to the statements and proposals made by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in L'Aquila, Muskoka, Deauville and Los Cabos, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Naldandyan told Tuesday his French counterpart Laurent Fabius at the meeting.
YEREVAN, July 25./ARKA/. Armenia is ready to continue peace talks around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict staying committed to the statements and proposals made by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in L'Aquila, Muskoka, Deauville and Los Cabos, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Naldandyan told Tuesday his French counterpart Laurent Fabius at the meeting.
The President of the United States Barack Obama, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, and the President of France François Hollande made a statement in Los-Cabos expressing regret that “the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia did not take the decisive steps that our countries called for in the joint statement at Deauville on May 26, 2011.”
“The parties to the conflict should not further delay making the important decisions necessary to reach a lasting and peaceful settlement,” they said in a statement.
The presidents also stated they are united in their resolute commitment to a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“Highly commending the constructive involvement of France as one of the co-chairs, Foreign Minister of Armenia reiterated the readiness of Armenia to continue talks for peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict staying committed to the statements and proposals made by the co-chairs in L'Aquila, Muskoka, Deauville and Los Cabos,” according to the press release provided to Novosti-Armenia agency by Foreign Ministry.
The sides also discussed the issues related to the nuclear program of Iran and the situation in the Middle East.
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh broke out in 1988 after the predominantly Armenian-populated Karabakh declared about secession from Azerbaijan.
As Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union and removed the powers held by the Karabakh’s government, the Armenian majority voted in 1991, December 10, to secede from Azerbaijan and in the process proclaimed the enclave the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. Full-scale fighting, initiated by Azerbaijan, erupted in the late winter of 1992. International mediation by several groups including Europe's OSCE’s failed to bring an end resolution that both sides could work with.
In the spring of 1993, Armenian forces captured regions outside the enclave itself. By the end of the war in 1994, the Armenians were in full control of most of the enclave and also held and currently control seven regions beyond the administrative borders of Nagorno-Karabakh. Almost 1 million people on both sides have been displaced as a result of the conflict. A Russian- -brokered ceasefire was signed in May 1994 and peace talks, mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, have been held ever since by Armenia and Azerbaijan.-0-
