Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev thanked Uzbekistan for supporting Azerbaijan’s position in resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Axar.az reports citing Kun.uz.

countries,” Mustafayev said at a meeting with business circles of the two countries in Tashkent. “The political relations are most important. We are always grateful to the fraternal people of Uzbekistan for supporting Azerbaijan’s position in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Such a fair position is consistent with the spirit of friendly, fraternal relations between our countries and peoples.”

The minister stressed that high level political relations, based on the centuries-old friendship of the peoples, was established between the countries.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.