Elmar Mammadyarov: Vienna talks open up good opportunity for Karabakh conflict settlement

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has commented on yesterday's negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh in Vienna.

“I agree with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s assessment that yesterday’s meeting opens up a good opportunity to start the substantial talks on well-known step-by-step approach on conflict resolution,” Trend cited Mammadyarov as saying.

These talks must start as soon as possible and produce tangible results so awaited by people in the region and the international community, the head of the Azerbaijani diplomatic department said.

Recall, the meeting between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, mediated by the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement was held in Vienna on May 16. The OSCE Minsk Group countries were represented by the heads of their Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov, John Kerry and Jean-Marc Eyraud.

Recall, on the night of April 2 all frontier positions of Azerbaijan were exposed to heavy fire from large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. In addition, Azerbaijani settlements near the front line, densely populated by civilians, were shelled.

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% 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 withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.