The Armenian foreign ministry has released the 2017 annual report.
The report, regarding the Karabakh conflict, in particular states that Armenia, together with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries – Russia, US and France, continued the steps aimed at creating respective conditions for moving forward the settlement process of the Karabakh conflict by exclusively peaceful means.
“In the beginning of the year, the Azerbaijani side, violating the 1994-1995 trilateral termless ceasefire agreements, initiated new wave of provocations and sabotage actions along the entire length of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh and the border with Armenia which resulted in casualties also among civilians. By grossly violating the international humanitarian law the Azerbaijani side targeted civilian objects. Baku continued its actions to deploy its military bases in the Azerbaijani settlements and their neighboring settlements and to initiate provocations from there, and this behavior should be strongly condemned”, the report says.
The report also touched upon the May 18 addressed statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs which was issued due to the constant actions by Azerbaijan aimed at escalating the situation in the line of contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
In 2017 five meetings were held between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan – February 16 in Munich, April 28 in Moscow, July 11 in Brussels, September 23 in New York and December 6 in Vienna.
“The meetings between the ministers and the Co-Chairs’ practical mediation efforts enabled to hold a meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan on October 16, 2017 in Geneva after 16 months of pause within the frames of which, nearly after a four-year pause, a joint statement of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs was adopted for the first time which mainly highlighted the agreement reached, that is to intensify the negotiation process and take additional steps to reduce the tension in the line of contact, the same steps mentioned in the statements made in the Vienna and St. Petersburg 2016 summits and to which Armenia has repeatedly expressed its support. However, committed to its style of action, Baku immediately after the summit restarted his groundless accusations and militaristic rhetoric”, the report says.
According to the report, Baku didn’t implement numerous other agreements, and these examples question Azerbaijan’s credibility as a negotiating side.
Last year 14 statements at the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format were adopted, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs made three regional visits on March 27, June 10 and October 6 within the frames of which the Co-Chairs in Yerevan were received by the Armenian President, meetings were also held with the foreign minister.
The provision of supporting the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the three principles of international law proposed by them as a base for the conflict settlement is enshrined in the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed between Armenia and the European Union on November 24.