State Department: U.S. calls for promoting negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh issue

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 19 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend: The U.S. and Turkey have discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh issue during Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's visit to Washington, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said at a joint press conference today, the U.S State Department reported. "We have been trying to work ways that our ambassadors, who are front and center in this - in these initiatives, are continuing that process," Kerry added. According to him, the U.S is urging that process to move forward, and the country will continue to be engaged in that. Kerry talked with both President Aliyev and President Sargsyan about the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan will meet under the OSCE Minsk Group's mediation in Vienna on Nov.19, OSCE reported earlier. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. 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 and the surrounding regions.