Deputy foreign minister of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic Masis Mailyan,calls
for widening of Karabakh “buffer zone”

Arminfo, Yerevan
12 Mar 05

STEPANAKERT

The cease-fire violations this week cannot be assessed as a tendency,
but it cannot be ruled out that such incidents will be repeated in the
future, the deputy foreign minister of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic,
Masis Mailyan, has told Kavkazskiy Uzel [web site].

The Azerbaijani side has been purposefully bringing its firing
positions closer to the contact line with the Nagornyy Karabakh
defence army for the past few years, thus reducing the so-called
“buffer zone”, he said.

“We have more than once warned representatives of the OSCE mediation
mission that reducing the distance between the conflicting sides could
lead to the escalation of tension on the front line, and this is what
we have today,” the deputy minister said. He also said that in order
to avoid fresh incidents, the border should be demarcated
internationally and Azerbaijani troops should be moved back to their
previous positions.

The Nagornyy Karabakh authorities welcome the suggestion of the
personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office that monitoring
be conducted in the near future of the section of the contact line
where the Azerbaijani side has been regularly violating the cease-fire
since 7 March, Mailyan said.

[Passage omitted: minor details]