OSCE MG co-chairs to visit South Caucasus May 11

PanARMENIAN.Net - OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Robert Bradtke of the United States, Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, and Jacques Faure of France as well as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk will visit South Caucasus on May 11-13.

The co-chairs’ visits to Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan are scheduled for May 11, 12 and 13 respectively.

On April 30, office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office conducted monitoring of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in direction of Berkaber settlement in Tavush Province of Armenia.

From Armenian positions, the monitoring was led by Field Assistants of OSCE Chairman-in-Office Hristo Hristov and Irjie Aberle.

Before the monitoring, the OSCE representatives were briefed on the situation at the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces, the statistics of Azeri ceasefire violations, as well as issues related to sniper activities at the contact line.

The monitoring was held with no incidents observed.

Afterwards, Hristo Hristov and Irjie Aberle visited Doveg settlement in Tavush Province, took photos and videos of the shelling of the village by Azerbaijani forces on April 25.

Prior to the visiting the village, OSCE representatives went to the site of murder of three Armenian soldiers, carefully examined and took photos of the car shelled in the military prison of Berd town.

On April 27, 4:15 am local time VAZ 2107 car belonging to an Armenian serviceman was shelled on the road to the village of Aygepar in Tavush province of Armenia. As a result the driver and two other servicemen were wounded, Armenian Defense Ministry's press service reports.

Despite the measures taken, the two servicemen died on the way to military hospital of Berd settlement, with the 3rd soldier killed. A criminal case has been instigated under Article 104 of RA Criminal Code. Investigation is under way.

On April 25, ceasefire violation by Azerbaijani armed forces was registered in the north-eastern region of the contact line between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani side opened fire from various caliber weapons towards the Armenian positions in village of Doveg, Armenia’s Tavush province.

The shelling left the local kindergarten and a GAZ-53 truck damaged. The children and staff of the kindergarten were evacuated for security purposes. As a result of retaliatory measures by the Armenian armed forces, the Azerbaijani side was forced to stop the fire.