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OSCE: Kaspzyk does not have the mandate to conduct investigations or to verify and report on the military potential of any side

24 October 2020 19:58 (UTC +04:00)

An article based on ideas of military expert Uzeyir Jafarov and entitled as “Kasprzyk and his field assistants deceived Azerbaijan during these years, they should be brought to responsibility” was published by apa.az website of the APA Information Agency on 22 October

The letter, sent on behalf of the head of the OSCE Communications and Media Office, Ina Pyrvanova, said that the article contained false information about the mandate of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office (PRCIO), citing a military expert.

The letter reads:

"Dear Mr. Guliyev,

On behalf of Ina Parvanova, Head of the OSCE Communication and Media Relations Section, we would like to draw your attention to an article by Uzeyir Jafarov published by APA on 22 October. The article published incorrect information about the mandate of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (PRCIO).

Link to the article: https://apa.az/en/azerbaijan-army-azerbaijani-armed-forces/Military-expert-Kasprzyk-and-his-field-assistants-deceived-Azerbaijan-during-these-years-they-should-be-brought-to-responsibility-333588

We would like to ask you to publish correct information that will explain and will allow to clarify the role of the PRCiO and his field assistants to prevent wrongful and biased information from being published and from affecting public perceptions in Azerbaijan.

We would also expect from an agency like APA to publish verified and balanced articles.

Here is the information explaining the role of the PRCiO and his field assistants:

“The mandate of the PRCiO is published on the OSCE website. It clearly states that the PRCiO should: ‘Report on all aspects of his activities to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, report through the Chairperson-in-Office to the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group and, as appropriate, to the Minsk Group.’

Within the mandated obligations related to confidence-building measures, the PRCiO and his field assistants conducted monitoring exercises. These exercises allowed for the lowering of tensions along the front lines and finding a solution to occasionally rising tensions. It also allowed, with security guarantees, to provide support to humanitarian operations, for example for the retrieval of bodies following clashes on the line of contact in 2016.

All monitoring exercises were conducted with the approval of the sides which provided the field assistants with a military escort who led them to the location of the monitoring. The PRCIO was and is developing and implementing other confidence-building measures, such as the exchange of journalists that took place in November 2019. The PRCiO does not have the mandate to conduct investigations or to verify and report on the military potential of any side.”