Congressional Documents and Publications Helsinki Commission Announces Briefing on Nagorno-Karabakh U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DOCUMENTS HELSINKI COMMISSION ANNOUNCES BRIEFING ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH WASHINGTON--The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the following briefing: "AVERTING ALL-OUT WAR IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH: THE ROLE OF THE U.S. AND OSCE" Wednesday, October 18, 2017 2:00PM Russell Senate Office Building Room 188 Live Webcast: www.facebook.com/HelsinkiCommission Last year, the conflict surrounding the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus saw its worst outbreak of violence in more than two decades. The so-called Four Day War in April 2016 claimed approximately 200 lives and demonstrated that the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, which has persisted in a state of no-war/no-peace since a 1994 ceasefire, is not a "frozen" conflict at all. Instead, the Line of Contact separating the parties sees numerous ceasefire violations annually. Each one risks igniting a larger-scale conflict that could draw in major regional players, such as Russia, Turkey, and Iran. Since 1997, the United States, France, and Russia have co-chaired the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the principal international mechanism aimed at reaching a negotiated solution to the conflict. The fragility of the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire underscores the importance of United States engagement in the Minsk Group process. The U.S. Helsinki Commission will host two former United States Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group process as well as a renowned independent expert on the conflict to assess the current state of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Minsk Group format, and the prospects for achieving a lasting peace. * Ambassador Carey Cavanaugh, Professor of Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, University of Kentucky; Former U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group (1999-2001) * Magdalena Grono, Europe and Central Asia Program Director, International Crisis Group * Ambassador James Warlick, Partner and Senior Policy Advisor, Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev and Partners; Former U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group (2013-2016) The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent agency of the Federal Government charged with monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advancing comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy, and economic, environmental and military cooperation in 57 countries. The Commission consists of nine members from the U.S. Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce.