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French co-chair: Most challenging issue is to restore trust, dialogue between Karabakh conflict sides

27 January 2017 10:20 (UTC +04:00)

The Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement has to be a “win-win” schema, French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Stephane Visconti said in an interview to Mediamax agency, APA reported.

“The essence of the work of co-chairs is a collective approach, based on mutual trust, confidentiality, constructive spirit, and permanent exchanges. My personal contribution and ideas are operating in this solid and coherent framework. My plan is to serve actively as an honest broker and with the hope to generate dynamics that could at last end up with a fair and sustainable settlement of the Karabakh issue”, Visconti said.

“With these goals in mind, I went to the region in December 2016 and had the honor of being received by Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan, the Ministers of Foreign affairs of the two Republics, and others major actors. Their observations and advices have been for me very precious. It is essential for my duties to fully comprehend what are the positions, aims and red lines of the parties. Ultimately, the settlement has to be a “win-win” schema”, he said.

“The most challenging issue is to restore trust and dialogue, and thus to be in a position to trigger a virtuous, efficient and strong dynamic. Everything has to be done to prevent any outbreak of violence or armed hostilities that would be most damageable for everybody”, added the French co-chair.

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 passed by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.