By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) should require a report from the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijani MP and OSCE PA Deputy Chairman Azay Guliyev made the remark while talking to reporters in Baku on April 18.

“The OSCE PA adopted important documents on conflicts. But we think that specific steps and solutions should be taken in this regard. The OSCE PA should conduct an audit of the OSCE activities in this direction and require a report from the Minsk Group co-chairs,” Guliyev said.

The Minsk Group, the activities of which have become known as the Minsk Process, spearheads the OSCE's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation, and the United States. Although the OSCE Minsk Group deals with the issue for over two decades, its activities have brought no breakthrough results so far.

Guliyev stressed that the Minsk Group co-chairs should be asked why the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not resolved yet, and why Azerbaijani civilians and soldiers are still dying on the line of contact.

“Therefore, I suggested to invite one of Minsk Group co-chairs to one of the OSCE PA sessions, and let him report,” he noted. “We are also planning a meeting of parliamentarians of the OSCE Minsk Group countries, where we will discuss the settlement of the conflict.”

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, 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.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

Guliyev also said that Azerbaijan intends to strengthen relations with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and Azerbaijani parliament’s Speaker Ogtay Asadov has invited OSCE PA President Christine Muttonen to Azerbaijan in connection with this.

“We hope that the visit will take place in the near future,” said the MP adding that the next meeting of the OSCE PA will be held in Copenhagen on April 23-24.