Armenia Responds to Azerbaijani Proposal by Requesting International Mediation for Peace Talks

_{YEREVAN – Armenia has responded to a new proposal from Azerbaijan by requesting international mediation for peace talks, official Yerevan said on Monday.}

_{The Armenian Foreign Ministry, in a statement today, said “Armenia has responded to the recent peace proposals of Azerbaijan and has applied to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship to organize negotiations for the signing of peace agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan on the basis of the UN Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Helsinki Final Act.”}

_{Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, in a March 11 interview with the Turkish Anadolu Agency (AA), said that Baku has sent a new 5-point document to Armenia as a basis to normalize relations between the two countries and is waiting for a response.}

_{“We have recently sent a new proposal to Armenia as a sign of goodwill. We have proposed some fundamental principles that include the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We expressed our readiness to develop relations on the basis of certain principles. Armenia should consider this and give its answer. If Armenia sincerely wants to normalize relations, then this is a very good opportunity for them. Armenia’s response will be known in the near future, and of course we will take appropriate steps,” Bayramov said, as quoted by Azerbaijani media.}

_{The OSCE Minsk Group has for decades spearheaded international efforts to negotiate a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.}