Azerbaijani president receives OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov (Russia), James Warlick (U.S.), Jacques Faure (France), Pierre Andrieu, the co-chairman from France who is about to start his activities, as well as the special representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Andrzej Kaspzyk.

The sides exchanged views on the current state and prospects for negotiations to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

Bakudaily.az