Baku escalates the situation during each visit of the Co-chairs to the region, Armenian Foreign Minister has said, as he commented on the ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan at the time the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs were crossing the line of contact.

“That incident took place days after the Co-chairs directly called upon Azerbaijan to agree to the creation of the mechanism of investigation of cease-fire violations. Baku escalates the situation during each visit of the Co-chairs to the region,” Minister Nalbandian said in comments to Radio Liberty.

“The Azerbaijani provocations aim at undermining the negotiation process, and questioning the necessity of the mediation efforts. It is noteworthy that in their statement made as a follow-up to the regional visit the Minsk Group Co-chairs labeled the incident as an attempt to undermine the peace efforts. It is not a coincidence that just on the next day of the provocation the President of Azerbaijan came up with new threats and criticized the Co-chairs,” the Foreign Minister said.

Edward Nalbandian reminded that “Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee joined by 83 Congressmen addressed an open letter to the U.S. Co-chairman of the Minsk Group. The Congressmen rightly pointed out that artificial evenhandedness of generic calls to refrain from the use of force made to all parties to the conflict after each violation of the cease-fire regime cannot reduce the tensions. On the contrary up to now they have contributed to the dangerous escalation of the situation.”

“We hope that the US Co-chairman will not only follow the just appeals of the US Congressmen but also together with other Co-chairmen of the Minsk Group will take efforts to fulfill their own proposal on the establishment of the mechanism for investigation of the cease-fire violations, which will make it meaningless to make unaddressed calls,” he said.

“Baku continuously rejects the proposal of the Co-chairmen on the creation of the mechanism of investigation of the cease-fire violations, thus bearing full responsibility for the consequences of ceasefire violations,” Minister Nalbandian concluded.