Nalbandian in meeting with mediators in Paris whilst senior Azerbaijani official describes the Minsk Group as "dead-like".

The Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Igor Popov, Jacques Faure, James Warlick and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk met in Paris on Saturday (22 February). A statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry said that  during the meeting "the sides continued discussions on pushing forward the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process".
 
It is understood that efforts are ongoing to organise a meeting between the two Presidents, but that this will depend on whether enough common ground can be found to justify a meeting.
 
Meanwhile in Baku, the First Deputy Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Ziafat Asgerov, sharply criticised the activity of the OSCE Minsk Process at an event marking the 22nd anniversary of events in Khojally, characterised by Azerebaijan as genocide.
 
"The activity of the OSCE Minsk Group has not delivered any results. It is a dead-like group", Trend News agency reported Asgerov as saying. "The OSCE Minsk Group is engaged in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Should we wait another 20 years for a resolution to this problem? The work of this group does not bring any results" he said.
 
source: commonspace.eu with agencies
 
Photo: The Foreign Minister of Armenia with médiators from the OSCE Minsk process in^Paris on 22 February 2014. (Picture courtesy of the Armenian Foreign Ministry).

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