BAKU: Elections in Nagorno-Karabakh Should not Have Any Impact on Pe

Elections in Nagorno-Karabakh Should not Have Any Impact on Peaceful
Settlement of Conflict: OSCE Chairman-in-Office

TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
July 21 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend K.Ramazanova / So-called "presidential
elections" in Nagorno-Karabakh should not have any impact on the
peaceful settlement of the conflict, said the OSCE Chairman-in-Office,
Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos.

"The OSCE does not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh
and therefore, these elections should not have any impact or any
significance on the solution of the conflict," Minister Moratinos said.

The Chairman-in-Office reiterated his support to the efforts of
Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Group to facilitate a peaceful settlement
in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries appeared in 1988
due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding districts. Since 1992 to the present
time, these territories have been under Armenian occupation. In 1994,
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time
the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
( Russia, France and USA) are holding peaceful negotiations.