OSCE PA Special Envoy urges parliamentarians to put forward certain initiatives
By Amina Nazarli
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Special Representative on the South Caucasus, Kristian Vigenin, has met with the party leaders represented in the Azerbaijani Parliament.
The sides discussed the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and activity of the OSCE Minsk Group, established to broker a peace to the conflict.
The Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is more than two-decade-old, but still actual. It 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 regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Vigenin said he understands Azerbaijani side's dissatisfaction with OSCE MG’s activities as there has been no actual progress in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“The problem should always be kept in focus, not just in the case of ceasefire violations,” he said.
“On my part, I will do my utmost to contribute to the settlement of the conflict. But we must not be satisfied with this. Not only the members of the OSCE Minsk Group, but also other countries should contribute to the settlement of the conflict,” he said.
Vigenin further said that as parliamentarians, they should also put forward certain initiatives and proposals.
He emphasized that the OSCE PA considers the current status quo on the conflict as unacceptable, saying it should soon be changed peacefully.
Today, Armenia controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.
In 1992, the OSCE established the Minsk Group in order to resolve the conflict by peaceful means. However, the organization, co-chaired by Russia, the U.S. and France, still fails to find a solution to the problem.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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