Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has recently inspected ceasefire violations on the contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian armed forces.

The OSCE co-chairs, Igor Popov of Russia, Jacques Faure of France, and James Warlick of the U.S. and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk travelled to the region December 15-19 to discuss recent developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

The co-chairs issued a statement following their visit, saying recent violence on the border undermines prospects for peace, OSCE website reported.

They encouraged the sides to refrain from further actions that could increase tensions, and to work to maintain an atmosphere conducive to progress at the negotiating table.

Ceasefire breaches by Armenian armed forces have kept tension high on the front line.

Frequent ceasefire violations occur almost every day, causing great hardship for the people living near the frontline, as they are unable to live normal everyday lives and are always under a threat.

The co-chairs met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on December 15 in Baku and with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on December 16 in Yerevan.

They traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh on December 17 and met with the representatives of the separatist regime there.

The presidents and the co-chairs discussed the outcome of the recent meeting in Vienna, and the subsequent meeting of their foreign ministers in Kyiv on December 4-5.

The presidents met in Vienna on November 19, along with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, to eye the ways to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

They expressed their resolve to continue building on these substantive talks in January 2014.

The co-chairs will travel to Switzerland for consultations with the incoming Chairperson in Office of the OSCE in January, followed by a meeting of the two foreign ministers to prepare for the next summit.

During the visit to Baku, Warlick said in an interview with the Voice of America, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs expect a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to be held in the beginning of 2014.

Warlick noted that the positive effects of the high level dialogue, which has been restored recently. He in particular stressed that the number of fatalities along the line of contact reduced.

He said all parties welcome new and fresh ideas, but it is really up to the parties to determine how they want to deal with this issue.

During talks in Yerevan and Baku, Warlick said he felt willingness of the presidents to find the path that would ensure longstanding peace.

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.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.