“We give most important role in the solution of Nagorno Karabakh problem to efforts of Azerbaijan, Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs,” said OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Secretary of State – Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Kanat Saudabayev at the ministerial meeting of OSCE and EU in Brussels, website Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry reported.

“We consider that further delay of basic principles on the solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict may negatively effect the negotiations process and cause loss of trust between the conflicting sides. In this regard, Kazakhstan is ready to assist coordination of uncoordinated issues on the basic principles and to directly participate in the process,” Saudabayev said.

He considers that only joint efforts of the interested sides can solve the problem. “We believe that European Union and OSCE, which have same interests, may achieve success in this issue working closely and coordinating efforts,” OSCE Chairman-in-Office said.

Saudabayev noted with satisfaction the beginning of the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and assessed it as one of the significant events in the South Caucasus. “Kazakhstan, as a country that has traditionally friendly, partnership relations with both countries, makes maximum efforts for the development of this process,” he said.

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 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 the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.

Trend News