UKRAINE URGES TO FINALIZE NAGORNO-KARABAKH RESOLUTION PRINCIPLES
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Aug 28 2013
28 August 2013, 14:17 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
Ukraine, as the country chairing the OSCE, permanently signals
about the need to finalize basic principles for a settlement of
the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, to refrain from
unilateral steps and to stabilize the situation on the troops’
contact line, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Kuchta was quoted
by Armenian media as saying.
“In addition, our country supports the efforts of the [mediating]
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to promote a peaceful solution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Kuchta said.
According to him, the co-chairs have visited Kiev twice within
six months and during the visits substantial discussions were held
regarding the process of the conflict settlement.
In July, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid
Kozhara said Ukraine will be exceptionally active until the end of
this year and will be involved in the resolution of the so-called
‘frozen conflicts’.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war between
the two South Caucasus countries that displaced over a million
Azerbaijanis and ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire
in 1994, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of
Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory, including the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Peace talks brokered by the Minsk Group co-chairs representing the
United States, Russia and France have been largely fruitless so far.
The negotiations are underway on the basis of the peace outline dubbed
the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document
envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh
to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of
Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the
right of all internally displaced persons to return home.