23 February 2010
Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.23 / Trend News, E. Ostapenko / A high-level delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), headed by President Joao Soares and the Special Representative on Nagorno-Karabakh Goran Lennmarker, will pay a three day visit to Azerbaijan in mid-March, the OSCE said.
The OSCE PA's delegation will visit Azerbaijan March 13-16 within a regional visit to all three South Caucasus countries. It will begin in Georgia, March 9 and 10, continue to Armenia from March 10 to 13, and will end in Azerbaijan March 13 to 16.
The visit is President Soares's first official visit to the region as President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
The talks in the three countries will focus on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and on the situation after the war between Georgia and Russia.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the United States - 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 region and the occupied territories.
