According to him, the recent agreements on finalizing an OSCE investigative mechanism and expanding the OSCE presence in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone are important positive steps.
“In both Azerbaijan and Armenia, I have urged authorities to build on these developments in the near future. On the parliamentary level, I plan to continue working with parliamentarians from the region and beyond to increase broad-based political will in favour of a comprehensive settlement,” continued Vigenin.
The special representative reiterated that there is no military solution to the conflict, calling on all sides to stop aggressive rhetoric and to make space for more constructive efforts for peace. He also expressed support for the Minsk Process.
“The Minsk Group and its co-chairs have my full support in their efforts to facilitate a peaceful solution. To support the official efforts, in the coming weeks I will propose some concrete ideas to my colleagues for further communication and exchanges at the parliamentary level,” said Vigenin, noting that the OSCE PA Annual Session in Tbilisi, 1-5 July would serve as an opportunity for initial discussions.
“I was pleased to personally convey my appreciation for the recent releases of a number of human rights defenders and opposition politicians from prison in Azerbaijan,” he concluded.
Vigenin was appointed Special Representative on the South Caucasus by OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva in February 2016.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.
A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.
The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.
Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.
Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.
Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.
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