AzerNews.

Members of the Board of Directors of U.S. Azeris Network (USAN) and active members of the organization met with the new U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk group Ambassador James Warlick on September 23, USAN said in its Facebook page.

In a long discussion, the members of the Azerbaijani-American community discussed the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and expressed hope for a peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Recall that, in the years past, the USAN has met with previous U.S. co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, such as Ambassadors Matthew Bryza, Steven Mann, and Carrey Cavanaugh.

Warlick welcomed the views of the members of the community, some of which were originally from Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and were victims of the ethnic cleansing campaign implemented by the Armenian armed forces in 1992-1994.

Warlick pledged a deeper engagement of the United States to reach final resolution of the conflict.

Recently, the U.S. mediator paid his first visit to the South Caucasus region to meet with the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and also traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh.

He discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh problem with Azerbaijani and Armenian officials and called for joint efforts of Azerbaijan, Armenia and the regional states over resolution of the conflict.

The diplomat also said it was time for all sides involved to work together on the basis of the Helsinki Final Act.

Warlick was appointed the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair in August.

In December, Robert Bradtke completed his term as the U.S. Minsk Group co-chair. Ian Kelly had been named the U.S. co-chair on an interim basis on December 21, 2012, pending the appointment of a new permanent co-chair.

The U.S., along with Russia and France, has long been working to broker a solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the Minsk Group, but their efforts have been largely fruitless so far.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

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