OSCE MG: We tried our best, but it was a botch-up as usual

PanARMENIAN.Net - Reading the report, one may assume that it was not written by the OSCE Minsk Group but by the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan. Moreover, one gets the impression that no one visited the territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh; instead the information was provided to them by Baku and as a result there appeared the page referred to as a “report”. In fact, the full report is not yet published and the co-chairs were accompanied by Nagorno-Karabakh officials on the trip. Butthe published material leads to the conclusions mentioned above. The report specifically notes that visiting the territories surrounding Karabakh, the Co-Chairs saw “stark evidence of the disastrous consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the failure to reach a peaceful settlement.” How did they contrive to see all this remains a mystery? Any conflict implies destruction and exodus, and it is true not only for Nagorno-Karabakh, but also for the entire world. The report continues: “Towns and villages that existed before the conflict are abandoned and almost entirely in ruins. While no reliable figures exist, the overall population is roughly estimated as 14,000 persons, living in small settlements and in the towns of Lachin and Kelbajar. The Co-Chairs assess that there has been no significant growth in the population since 2005. The settlers, for the most part ethnic Armenians who were relocated to the territories from elsewhere in Azerbaijan, live in precarious conditions, with poor infrastructure, little economic activity, and limited access to public services. Many lack identity documents.” From all of this passage the most alarming phrase is “While no reliable figures exist...” It turns out that in fact the Co-Chairs confined themselves to the stories told by the notorious Karabakh Liberation Organization or other similar organizations. But the objective of the mission was to specify the number of residents in the conflict zone. However, instead of all this, the mediators limited themselves to stating the “harsh reality”. Oddly enough, they proved to be right in this respect: it’s pretty hard to live under the constant bombardment of Azerbaijani snipers. But there are people who do, and they are many more than 14.000.

“Only a peaceful, negotiated settlement can bring the prospect of a better, more certain future to the people who used to live in the territories and those who live there now.” Moreover, representatives of the OSCE mission urged the parties to “avoid any activities in these territories and take measures to preserve cemeteries and places of worship”. Azerbaijani propaganda did its work – the Co-Chairs saw (if they ever did), the dilapidated mosque in Akna (Agdam) and concluded that all Muslim monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh are destroyed and annihilated. Meanwhile, hardly is it possible that the OSCE Minsk Group not be aware of the destruction of Armenian monuments not only in Nagorno-Karabakh for 70 years under the Soviet Union, but also in independent Azerbaijan.

“The Co-Chairs intend to undertake further missions to other areas affected by the NK conflict, and to include in such missions experts from relevant international agencies that would be involved in implementing a peace settlement. Noting the continuing importance of restraint by the sides both on the ground and in public statements, the Co-Chairs consider unacceptable any use or threat of force, including against civil aircraft. In that respect, they strongly condemn the senseless cycle of killings and retaliations along the front lines. They reiterated their long-standing position that all sides should prepare their populations for peace, not war,” the OSCE MG statement read. The OSCE Minsk Group wishes are all spot on, but not for the Government of Azerbaijan, which neither is going to withdraw its snipers from the contact line of Azerbaijani and Karabakh forces, nor gives up the idea of attacking civilian aircraft.

Analysts in Armenia and Azerbaijan treated the statement rather coldly. According to them, it is, at least, not serious to comment on extracts of a report that does not give a complete picture of the field mission. Moreover, Stepanakert believes that to say anything about a “stillborn document of a dead organization" is simply meaningless.