YEREVAN, February 26. /ARKA/. Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan met yesterday with Artsakh Foreign Minister David Babayan, the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.
It said the ministers emphasized the deepening of cooperation between the two ministries, holding of mutual contacts and consultations for a more effective discussion of the current issues.
The key issue of the meeting was the humanitarian crisis that has resulted from the Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh that requires an immediate solution, including an early repatriation of all Armenian captives held in Azerbaijan.
The need to attract international professional structures in stabilization of the socio-economic situation in Artsakh was emphasized.
During the meeting, the two ministers exchanged views on the resumption of the Artsakh peace process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, emphasizing the restoration and protection of the rights of Artsakh Armenians, as well as the determination of the status of Artsakh based on the people’s right to self-determination.
On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani armed forces, backed by Turkey and foreign mercenaries and terrorists, attacked Nagorno-Karabakh along the entire front line using rocket and artillery weapons, heavy armored vehicles, military aircraft and prohibited types of weapons such as cluster bombs and phosphorus weapons.
After 44 days of the war, on November 9, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities. According to the document, the parties stopped at where they were at that time. The town of Shushi, the districts of Agdam, Kelbajar and Lachin were handed over to Azerbaijan, with the exception of a 5-kilometer corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia.
A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed along the contact line in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor. Internally displaced persons and refugees are returning to Karabakh and adjacent regions, prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons and bodies of the dead are being exchanged.–0-