OSCE monitoring near Kuropatkino village passes without incidents

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said that the monitoring of the Nagorno-Karabakh contact line to the east of the Kuropatkino village of Azerbaijan's Khojavand district, held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office's personal representative, passed without any incident.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was carried out by the field assistant of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative Hristo Hristov and Peter Svedberg.

On the territories occupied and controlled by Armenian armed forces, the monitoring was carried out by the field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative Simon Tiller and Jiri Aberle.

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.