OSCE Minsk Group’s position on the so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” is clear. The so-called “NKR” is not recognized as an independent country by the United States or any other country including Armenia, US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick told APA on Aug.26.

He was commenting on the event to be held by Armenia to mark the “25th anniversary of the independence of the so-called NKR”.

According to Warlick, it is most important to focus on those steps that can lead to a comprehensive settlement, especially continued dialogue between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“Along with the other OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, we will continue to work energetically with the sides to facilitate a peaceful settlement to the conflict,” he added.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in Dec.1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Apa.az