YEREVAN, September 28. /ARKA/. The statement the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs issued after Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers met in New York on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly contains interesting messages, political analyst Angela Elibegova said Friday at a news conference.
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs issued a statement yesterday cautioning the ministers about the threat of escalation of tension and urging the sides to take part in creation of a favorable environment and refrain from bellicose rhetoric.
The co-chairs stressed that a comprehensive settlement will require concessions from all the sides of the conflict.
“The co-chairs urge the sides to refrain from bellicose rhetoric and not to escalate tension,” Elibegova said. “It was taken on record that there are victims and things may lead to escalation. They called on the sides to resume talks and refrain from aggressive rhetoric. I think this, first of all, applies to Azerbaijan, since President Ilham Aliyev hardened his statements recently.”
In her opinion, the fact that the foreign ministers arranged for resumption of the negotiations despite the circumstance that there is no arrangement for any meeting between the counties’ leaders gives grounds for thinking that the talks are resuming, though slowly and heavily.
”Tension not only in Artsakh, but also on Armenia’s borders shows that escalation of the situation may produce a very dangerous effect, and time has come to resume the negotiation,” Elibegova said adding that Azerbaijan will make every effort to derail the process and shift responsibility onto Armenia.
The political analyst thinks that by acting this way the Azerbaijani side is trying to take advantage of the changes in Armenia, but it is necessary not to prevent that.
Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Karabakh, mainly populated by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.
On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.
Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions adjacent to it.
Some 30,000 people were killed in this war and about one million people fled their homes.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations.
Тalks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group are being held over peaceful settlement of the conflict. The group is co-chaired by USA, Russia and France. -0—–