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Armenian, Azerbaijani presidents agree to increase the number of international observers in Karabakh conflict zone

21.06.2016, 10:09
The press service of the Armenian president has published the full text of the statement adopted following a trilateral meeting of the presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sargsyan, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev in St. Petersburg on June 20.

Armenian, Azerbaijani presidents agree to increase the number of international observers in Karabakh conflict zone
YEREVAN, June 21. /ARKA/. The press service of the Armenian president has published the full text of the statement adopted following a trilateral meeting of the presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sargsyan, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev in St. Petersburg on June 20.

The statement says that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan reaffirmed the agreements they achieved during their meeting in Vienna on May 16 aimed at stabilizing the situation in the conflict zone and the creation of an atmosphere conducive to advancing the peace process.

"To this end, they agreed, in particular, to increase the number of international observers in the conflict zone and expressed satisfaction with the continuing ceasefire regime on the contact line," the document says.

"The sides had a thorough exchange of views on the essential aspects of the settlement. The heads of state noted the achievement of mutual understanding on a number of issues that will create conditions for progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process. The presidents noted the importance of their regular contacts on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and agreed to continue them in this format in addition to the work of the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs, who were invited to the final part of the meeting in St. Petersburg ",  says the statement.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. 

On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. 

Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.

On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was reached. ---0---