Thursday, July 24 2014

 Azerbaijan is trying to manipulate the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs by means of loud statements and threats, Stepan Safaryan, Head of the Armenian Institute for International and Security Affairs, has told ArmInfo when commenting on Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov's statement that if the OSCE Minsk Group does not contribute to the Karabakh peace process, it should step aside so that Yerevan and Baku could resolve it.       

According to Safaryan, Baku is trying to exert pressure on the OSCE Minsk Group by means of continuous reproaches and escalation on the Line of Contact of Artsakh and Azerbaijani armed forces. Safaryan says that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs' latest statement addressed to both parties demonstrates that the international community prefers stroking the naughty party instead of punishing it. "Baku has already realized that the OSCE Minsk Group prefers stroking it and that the strategy of pressure is quite efficient.  So, it will continue that strategy", says Safaryan. 

To note, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has brought criminal charges against the Azeri raiders detained near Karvachar in early July. The press service of the Office reports that two Azeris were detained while attempting to cross the border last week: Gulin Shahbaz Jalaloglu, who had a silenced Kalashnikov assault rifle, a Makarov pistol and two frag grenades, and Dilham Gardashhan, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a Makarov pistol. The third Azeri showed resistance and was killed.  Both Jalaloglu and Gardashhan have been arrested and are facing the charge of illegal crossing of state border. A special investigation group is inquiring into the case. The Armenian side also suffered losses:  Major Sargis Abrahamyan (born in 1972) was killed, a woman, Karina Davtyan (born in 1977) was wounded, and 17-year-old Smbat Tsakanyan was kidnapped and killed.  

On July 23, the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France) released a statement. "The Co-Chairs expressed their serious concern about the increase in tensions and violence, including the targeted killings of civilians, along the Line of Contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. They urged the parties to commit themselves to avoiding casualties and rejected the deliberate targeting of villages and the civilian population. They called on the Foreign Ministers to defuse tensions and adhere to the terms of the ceasefire", says the statement.