Steinmeier names Karabakh conflict among main challenges for German presidency in OSCE

By Rashid Shirinov

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was one of the main challenges for the German presidency in the OSCE, Chairperson-in-office, and Foreign Minister of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on December 29 while summing up his country's presidency in the organization.

He noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has perhaps not been in the limelight of the European public for a while, but it gained a prominent role this year after new escalations had occurred this April.

"The OSCE’s conflict settlement efforts there were important to create room for de-escalation. Hopefully this opens opportunities for talks on a political solution," Steinmeier said.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire of large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers by Armenian army. Azerbaijani counter-attack led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population.

Military operations on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies were stopped on April 5 at 12:00 with mutual consent of the sides. However, Armenian side still continues violating the ceasefire.

The Four-Day War saw heavy casualties by Armenian side and liberation of some Armenian-held territory for the first time since the 1994 ceasefire. 

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.