Azerbaijan's demands regarding the expansion of the OSCE Minsk Group format are destructive and have a negative impact on the Karabakh peace process, Armenia's Permanent Representative to the OSCE Arman Kirakosyan said on Feb 11, when addressing the OSCE Permanent Council, the press office of the Armenian Foreign Ministry has told ArmInfo.
Kirakosyan praised the efforts of the Russian, French and U.S. co-chairs and noted that Turkey, as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, is conducting a controversial policy, trying to manipulate the Karabakh problem for the benefit of its geopolitical interests.
The Armenian diplomat also pointed out that on the hand Azerbaijan stresses the need for wider involvement of the OSCE in the settlement process but on the other hand it consistently hampers the activities of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.
He qualified Azerbaijan's efforts to shift the Karabakh peace process to other formats as destructive and pointed at the anti-Armenian reports included in the agenda of the PACE winter session.
Kirakosyan reiterated Armenia's commitment to continue the peace process under the auspices of the OSCE MG Co-Chairs.
When speaking of Azerbaijan's stand on the conflict settlement with due regard for the territorial integrity principle only, Kirakoyan said that the principles of the Helsinki Final Act are of equal importance and all the OSCE member states, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, have agreed that the settlement of the Karabakh conflict should be based on the principles of non-use of force, peoples' right to self- determination and territorial integrity.
He added that Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian policy has not changed over the past 25 years. Azerbaijan refuses to recognize the Nagorno Karabakh people's right to self-determination, which has been recognized by the Minsk Group co-chair countries as one of the basic principles of the settlement. He noted that the people of Nagorno Karabakh gained de facto independence by exercising their right to self-determination in compliance with the international law standards and the USSR legislature.
Kirakosyan expressed his concern over the fact that Azerbaijan questions the long-term experience of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. He reiterated that the key obstacle to the conflict settlement is Azerbaijan's policy aimed at breaking the balance and Baku's attempts to impose its will on Armenia and Artsakh by using its economic and military capacities.
He also touched on Baku's ceasefire violations and sabotage attacks along the NKR-Azeri line of contact and on the Armenian-Azeri border. He stressed that unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan has turned down the proposals to withdraw the snipers from the frontline and to create mechanisms for investigation of the border incidents.