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Italian FM comments on expansion of OSCE observation mission in Nagorno-Karabakh

01 February 2018 12:15 (UTC +04:00)

All forms of organizational support are effective for achieving the goals, said Italy’s Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Angelino Alfano.

He made the remarks at a joint press conference with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Feb. 1, APA’s correspondent reported from Moscow.

Asked about the expansion of the OSCE observation mission in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, Alfano replied: “Here we are talking about positive steps. I can say that the work done so far and the future work conform to the Helsinki Final Act. I believe that the active work of my Russian counterpart Lavrov in this direction will accelerate the process of settling the conflict. We will render full support to the Minsk Group. Despite this, we don’t think this is the only possible option. Our position is to continue the policy of the country that previously chaired the OSCE. I think this is a fair position,” the Italian minister added.

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 CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in December 1994) 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, the 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.