Foreign Minister, OSCE envoys talk Karabakh in Yerevan

February 1, 2016 - 18:08 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met Monday, February 1 with the ambassadors of the OSCE member states to Armenia and the head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan Andrey Sorokin on the latter’s initiative.

At the meetings, the results of the Belgrade-hosted OSCE Ministerial Council, the German OSCE chairmanship in 2016, as well as a number of other issues currently on the OSCE agenda were discussed.

Nalbandian presented the process of the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, stressing in this context the importance of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairing countries' role.

Also, the parties dwelled upon the meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, held in Bern in late 2015.

In conclusion, Minister Nalbandian highly commended the activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and thanked Sorokin for his productive work.

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.