HIGHLIGHT: The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France and Andrew Schofer of the United States) have welcomed the commitment of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to an upcoming summit meeting, the co-chairs said in a press release on Saturday.
TASS, March 9. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France and Andrew Schofer of the United States) have welcomed the commitment of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to an upcoming summit meeting, the co-chairs said in a press release on Saturday.
On March 1, Pashinyan and Aliyev accepted a proposal of the OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chairs to meet for talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis.
"The Co-Chairs, working closely with the two foreign ministers, have been making preparations for this important leaders’ meeting, which will be the first direct contact between the two leaders conducted under Co-Chair auspices," the statement says.
"The Co-Chairs also welcome some initial steps being taken in the region to prepare the populations for peace and encourage the sides to intensify such efforts," it said.
In the meantime, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group called on the sides to the conflict to refrain from provocative statements and steps in the run-up to the meeting.
"In this context, the Co-Chairs urge the sides to refrain from statements and actions suggesting significant changes to the situation on the ground, prejudging the outcome of or setting conditions for future talks, demanding unilateral changes to the format without agreement of the other party, or indicating readiness to renew active hostilities," the statement says.
Mutual accusations
On March 5, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov said that Yerevan’s "latest statements" were derailing the negotiating process on Nagorno-Karabakh. As an example, Mamedyarov cited the words of Armenia’s National Security Service head Artur Vanetsyan concerning a settlement program for Nagorno-Karabakh. During his visit to the area, Vanetsyan said the settlement program "will become the key security guarantee" for Armenia.
Mamedyarov said that he briefed the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the fact and that he discussed the issue with Co-chair Igor Popov of Russia, in particular. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry reported that a major military exercise, involving up to 10,000 military personnel, would take place in the country on March 11 through 15.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that statements voiced by Azerbaijan’s officials over Nagorno-Karabakh could not create the atmosphere for negotiation. According to Yerevan, Azerbaijan is launching an offensive military exercise, which the country has not announced beforehand, and that proves force might be used.
History of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
The highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh (Mountainous Karabakh) is a mostly Armenian-populated enclave inside the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. It was the first zone of inter-ethnic tensions and violence to appear on the map of the former USSR in February 1988. Then, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region declared independence from Azerbaijan, a republic within the Soviet Union at the time. In 1992-1994, hostilities broke out in the region between pro-Baku forces and Armenian residents, which resulted in the Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto independence. In 1994, a ceasefire was reached but the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been strained since then.
Since 1992, the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) co-chaired by Russia, France and the US have been holding talks to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.