OSCE Mission to monitor NKR-Azerbaijani contact line

July 31, 2014 - 11:07 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - On August 1, in accordance with the agreement achieved with the authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic, the OSCE Mission will conduct monitoring of the line of contact between the NKR and Azerbaijani armed forces in the northern direction of the Kuropatkino settlement of the NKR Martouni area.

From the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring will be conducted by Field Assistants of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Yevgeny Sharov (Ukraine), Khristo Khristov (Bulgaria), as well as by staff member of the Office Peter Svedberg.

From the opposite side of the line of contact, the monitoring will be conducted by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and his Field Assistant Jiri Aberle (Czech Republic).

The NKR authorities expressed readiness to assist in conducting the monitoring and to ensure the security of the Mission members.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out as result of the ethnic cleansing launched by the Azeri authorities in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994 (when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions are now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.