Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Armenia’s occupation of internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan remains the major obstacle to achieving a breakthrough in the peace negotiations.

Azerbaijan’s delegation to the OSCE has made the remark in a statement welcoming German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier to the Permanent Council.

Noting that Germany takes the helm of the OSCE Chairmanship at a time of deep crisis in the organization, the mission said systematic attempts to challenge the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of OSCE participating states, double standards and selective application of the Helsinki Final Act principles, violation of inherent balance of three dimensions of OSCE’s comprehensive security concept lie at the core of crisis.

“We need more dialogue, mutual understanding and constructive engagement to overcome the crisis. The OSCE, due to its comprehensive security concept and broad participation represents a unique platform in this regard. Azerbaijan welcomes German Chairmanship’s intention to renew dialogue, rebuild trust and restore security in the OSCE and expresses its readiness for cooperation,” the statement said.

Highlighting Armenia’s occupation as major hindrance to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution, the mission said the main reason for this is lack of pressure on Armenia to completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops, as it is demanded by relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

“A conciliatory attitude to the illegal presence of Armenian troops is accompanied by the attempts of the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to monopolize the peace process and prevent any external contribution to political solution of the conflict. As a result, the role of the OSCE and its Minsk Group in conflict resolution has been limited to extending a formal support to the co-chairs, with no sense of involvement,” the delegation said.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Armenia continues the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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