Armenia will ask OSCE to help negotiate peace deal with Azerbaijan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia will "probably" ask the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs soon to initiate peace negotiations with Azerbaijan, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan said Friday, March 11.

Armenia has repeatedly stated its readiness to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan and similar statements have also been made by Azerbaijan. Asked whether concrete steps are being undertaken, Hunanyan said the signing of such an agreement should be preceded by a negotiation process.

"Since mutual statements have not yet developed into a concrete negotiation process, as the two countries do not have rich experience of direct negotiations, Armenia will probably soon apply to the mediators - the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to initiate the peace negotiations with Azerbaijan. The issue is currently being elaborated," Hunanyan added, according to Armenpress.

The announcement comes amid renewed tension on the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact. The Azerbaijanis have been attempting to make Karabakh residents flee their villages in the past several weeks now. A civilian was injured in Azerbaijan's shooting from across the contact line on Thursday, the Karabakh police said. The man identified as Suren Baghdasaryan (b. 1971) sustained a back injury when doing agricultural work after a shell exploded in his backyard.