Washington, December 8, AZERTAC

Washington-based Foreign Policy News has published an article by expert on international affairs Peter Tase headlined “OSCE embraces stalemate on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”.

The article says the OSCE has no strength to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“On December 3rd, 2015, the Serbian Government hosted the 22nd Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in which this year`s main focus was to rebuild a consensus on European security. The gathering was attended by over forty ministers of foreign affairs, together with hundreds of top-level diplomats from the 57 OSCE member nations as well as eleven representatives of International Organizations.”

Tase underlines that representatives of the OSCE “in their official statements have failed once again to prioritize, bring an immediate end to the Nagorno-Karabakh armed conflict – even though Europe`s security is at the forefront – and raise awareness before the international community about the desperate need to secure the integrity and territorial sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan, an independent nation that has been invaded by the Armenian Armed Forces for twenty four years.” “To make things more cynical, skeptical, the OSCE leaders and the majority of Foreign Ministers called “for further measures to strengthen ceasefire in Ukraine” and maintained silence towards the decades long armed conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh. They even went one step further this time by articulating the following requirement in the ‎Joint Statement by the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Countries.”

“Aside from the OSCE Minsk Group Statement, it is evident the hesitation of the OSCE leaders to make additional remarks about the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, it demonstrates clearly their intention to maintain the current status quo and not explore other mechanisms that could be more effective than the OSCE Minsk Group,” the article says.

“On the other hand, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov in his statement pointed out that “the inherent balance of three dimensions of OSCE’s comprehensive security is undermined today. Prevailing attempts to misuse the human dimension as a tool of pressure have only aggravated the crisis of trust within the OSCE. Ignorance to violations of mandates and serious deficiencies in activities of the OSCE executive structures and field presences question their relevance.”

“Foreign Minister Mammadyarov`s statement emphasized that “the protracted conflicts in the OSCE area remain the major threat and challenge to peace and security on the European continent. Armenia continues to disregard the calls of the international community, including the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries to start result-oriented negotiations on a peace agreement. The leadership of Armenia imitates the engagement with a view to consolidating the volatile status-quo created through the unlawful use of force and ethnic cleansing,” says Tase.

Yusif Babanli

Special Correspondent