29 September 2008
TREND news agency

Official Baku analyzes results of negotiations, which were held between Elmar Mammadyarov and Edvard Nalbandyan, the Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers, in New York on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “Format and level of negotiations will be known soon in order to continue them,” Araz Azimov, the Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister and the Azerbaijani President’s special envoy for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, told journalists on 29 September.

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

The Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers’ last meeting was held within the framework of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly held in New York. The meeting was held under Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan’s mediation.

“At present Azerbaijan is experiencing a period of the presidential elections campaign and the elections will be held soon. This fact can influence on the next meeting,” the Deputy Minister said.

The correspondent can be contacted at: trend@trend.az