OSCE MG welcomes Azerbaijan, Armenia's simultaneous release of prisoners
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
The Minsk Group co-chairs, who act as mediators in resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, regularly visit the region to conduct high-level talks with the parties to the conflict, as well as hold meetings with the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and the Minsk Group members to brief them on the process.
Miroslav Lajcak, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister, met with Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov from Russia and Andrew Schofer from the U.S., acting also on behalf of Minsk Group Co-Chair Stephane Visconti from France, and Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office.
The co-chairs informed Lajcak on the results of their recent consultations, including the meetings between the Azerbaijani and Armenian FM’s, held under the auspices of the co-chairs in Moscow on April 15 and Washington on June 20.
They also informed the Slovak Chair of progress on humanitarian issues, including the recent exchange of prisoners between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Lajcak expressed his full support for the Minsk process and the work of the co-chairs, and the efforts by the parties to the conflict to reduce tensions and create an atmosphere conducive to peace and substantive progress in negotiations.
The chairperson-in-office also commented on the prisoner exchange: “We welcome this humanitarian gesture, which demonstrates how dialogue can bring about positive results for the people affected by conflict.”
Later, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs spread joint statement. They welcomed the simultaneous release of prisoners on June 28. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross in facilitating this positive first step with regard to detainees.
During their visits to Vienna and Bratislava on June 27-28, the co-chairs also met with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger and Vladimir Minarik, Head of the OSCE High-Level Planning Group. Andrzej Kasprzyk also took part in these meetings.
The Minsk Group co-chairs are mandated to provide an appropriate framework for conflict resolution in the way of assuring the negotiation process; to obtain conclusion by the parties of an agreement on the cessation of the armed conflict in order to permit the convening of the Minsk Conference; and to promote the peace process by deploying OSCE multinational peacekeeping forces.
For nearly 25 years, the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem bring no tangible results.
Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since the war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.