OSCE MG FRENCH CO-CHAIR HAILS ALIEV’S STATEMENTS ON KARABAKH SECURITY
/ARKA/
April 30, 2009
YEREVAN
Bernard Fassier, co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group (France), called
unprecedented Azeri President Ilham Aliev’s statements on Karabakh’s
security.
During the April 16 meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev,
Aliev said a resolution of the Karabakh conflict should be in line
with the international law.
The Azeri president made quite positive statements in Moscow, Fassier
said at a conference in Yerean.
In his turn, U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza
said Aliev cited Karabakh’s self-government during the Moscow talks,
adding it was the first time he had heard such statements.
The Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Artsakh, mainly populated
by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.
On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority
of the population (99.89%) voted for independence from Azerbaijan.
Afterwards, large-scale military operations began as a result of
which Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven
regions adjacent to it.
On May 12, 1994 after the signing of the Bishkek cease-fire agreement,
the military operations were stopped.
Since 1992, negotiations over the peaceful settlement of the conflict
have been carried out within the OSCE Minsk Grou p, co-chaired by
the USA, Russia and France.