Karabakh conflict to be priority of Austria’s OSCE presidency

Kurz made the remarks at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, US.

The Austrian minister assured that the settlement of conflicts in the east of Ukraine, Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria will be among the priorities of Vienna’s chairmanship at the OSCE in 2017.

The chairmanship will pass to Austria in January 2017.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.