US doesn’t recognize so-called election in Azerbaijani breakaway region – OSCE MG co-chair

September 2, 2015

US doesn’t recognize so-called election in Azerbaijani breakaway region – OSCE MG co-chair

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:

The United States does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state, therefore, Washington does not accept the results of this “election” as affecting Nagorno-Karabakh’s legal status, US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said in an interview with Azernews newspaper.

He made the remarks commenting on the so-called election to the “self-governing bodies” of the separatist regime in the occupied Azerbaijani territories scheduled for September 13.

Answering the question on the recent escalation of tension along the contact line of Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, Warlick said that for most of the year, the situation along the contact line and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has been relatively stable.

“We have appealed to the sides to reduce tensions and strictly respect the ceasefire,” he said. “We also continue to propose confidence-building measures that would reinforce the ceasefire, creating a more positive environment for negotiations that could lead to a settlement.”

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will bring the foreign ministers of the sides of the conflict together on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September 2015, Warlick said.

“We will discuss with the ministers the possibility of holding the next presidential summit later this year,” Warlick said, adding that the co-chairs plan to visit the region in the fall.

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 US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

Edited by CN