ISTANBUL

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Friday said that the time to dissolve the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group has “long come,” as he held talks with OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu in Baku.

“The head of state stated that the time has long come to abolish the OSCE Minsk Group, which had completely failed in resolving the former Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, and all institutions related to it, and reiterated that Armenia should also take steps in this regard,” said a statement by the Azerbaijani presidency following the talks.

Expressing that Aliyev congratulated Sinirlioglu on his appointment as the OSCE’s head, the statement said the talks included an exchange of views on various areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the OSCE.

For his part, Sinirlioglu was quoted saying that the South Caucasus is one of the key regions on the OSCE’s agenda, conveying his congratulations on the completion of the text of the peace deal between Baku and Yerevan on March 13.

“Sinirlioğlu touched upon the cooperation projects implemented by the OSCE with Azerbaijan,” it added.

Established in 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group, chaired by France, Russia, and the US, aimed to facilitate the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan, two former Soviet republics, have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh -- a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan -- and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and demarcation talks.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh after separatist forces in the region surrendered.

Despite reaching a consensus on a peace agreement last month, both Baku and Yerevan have accused each other of cross-border attacks since then.