Azernews.Az

BAKU – OSCE mediators have said after holding talks in Azerbaijan and Armenia that "the time has arrived" to finalize and endorse the basic principles for settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and move to the drafting of a peace accord.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs - Bernard Fassier of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States and Igor Popov of Russia – discussed next steps for reaching agreement on the Basic Principles during their visit to Yerevan, the Armenia-occupied Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, and Baku on April 11-14. The mediators met separately with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and the leaders of the self-proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh republic, the Minsk Group co-chairs said in a statement released Thursday.

On April 13, the co-chairs crossed the line of contact (LOC) of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops by foot, before continuing to Baku. "As with their crossing of the LOC in September 2010, this was intended to demonstrate the importance of maintaining and strengthening the 1994 ceasefire and that the LOC should not become a permanent barrier to contacts among neighboring peoples, as well as to reaffirm the co-chairs' need to visit any areas affected by the conflict," the statement says.

The co-chairs also visited the village of Orta Garvand in the Aghdam region, accompanying Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE chairperson, in monitoring the area where the March 8 killing of a nine-year-old Azerbaijani child by Armenian troops occurred.

The co-chairs’ statement said that building on the March 5 joint statement made in Sochi by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, the co-chairs also presented to the sides "a draft mechanism for investigation of incidents along the front lines with the participation of all sides".

"The co-chairs will continue to work with the parties to create as soon as possible a transparent and objective investigation process, with the goal of enhancing confidence, decreasing the risk of miscalculation, and saving lives," the statement says.

The mediators expressed their concern that the planned opening of an airport in Nagorno Karabakh could lead to further increased tensions. They cautioned that the operation of flights to and from this airport could not be used to support any claim of a change in the current status of Nagorno-Karabakh under international law. The co-chairs urged the sides to reach an understanding in keeping with international conventions and agreements, as well as current practice between Armenia and Azerbaijan for flights over their territory. The co-chairs welcomed assurances from the sides that they will reject any threat or attack against civil aircraft, pursue the matter through diplomatic steps, and refrain from politicizing the issue.

The separatist authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have been rebuilding the airport near Khankandi, the rebel region’s center, and plan to reopen it this year. Baku has warned that the occupied territories' airspace is a no-fly zone.

The co-chairs will travel to Washington in late April for consultations with senior US officials, and to discuss the status of progress towards a peace settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

The Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 due to Armenia’s territorial claims. Azerbaijan and Armenia waged a brutal war which claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about a million Azerbaijanis. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory has been under the occupation of the Armenian armed forces since a ceasefire was signed in 1994. Peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.

Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees returned home, and only after that could the region’s status be determined within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while Armenia insists that self-determination is the core principle for a settlement of the dispute. The mediators are seeking a solution based simultaneously on both principles.