Thursday, November 20 2014

 The statement issued by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs is disappointing and surprising, the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan said in its statement, APA reports. 

The statement says that there is no "neutral" territory on the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops. 
APA quotes the Azeri Defense Ministry as saying, "The territories occupied by Armenia are the internationally recognized territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Term of "humanitarian access", used in the statement, is not clear and it was designed for those who are unaware of the essence of the conflict.  There are no civilians in this territory and any "access" or "corridor" is not needed to open for their withdrawal from the territory." 

"Though Azerbaijan regularly calls on Armenia to observe the international legal norms and principles and respect the rules of war, the opposing side always ignores them and continues to commit crimes," the Ministry's statement said.

To note, the OSCE MG Co-Chairs issued a statement on 19 November wherein they say that the wreckage of the helicopter lies in a heavily mined area of neutral territory on the Line of Contact and that they call on the sides to cease firing in the vicinity of the crash site and facilitate the demining of the area surrounding the site.  

In the spirit of the Astrakhan statement of October 2010 between the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, the Co-Chairs urge Azerbaijan to permit the recovery of the bodies of the victims, and Armenia to cooperate fully with all efforts to resolve this humanitarian situation.  

"We reaffirm our November 12 statement, reminding the sides of their responsibilities to respect the ceasefire and honor the commitments they made in Sochi, Newport, and Paris to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict," the statement reads.

Armenian military is still unable to approach the wreckage of the Mi-24 helicopter and the three members of its crew presumed dead, although a week has passed already.

Azerbaijani party did not provide security guarantees to OSCE CiO PR Andrzej Kasprzyk, who wished to approach the helicopter wreckage earlier on Wednesday.  
To remind, the Azerbaijani armed forces downed an Armenian Mi-24 while it was conducting a training flight near the Line on Contact on 12 November.  Three officers of the NKR Armed Forces, Sergey Sahakyan, Sargis Nazaryan and Azat Sahakyan, were on board. The NKR State Committee for POWs, Captives and the Missing has requested the ICRC assistance in returning the crewmembers of the downed helicopter. The Azeri officer that shot the helicopter down has been awarded a medal.