Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group co-chairs issued a
statement
on May 18 condemning violations of the ceasefire in Karabakh and urging the sides to take measures to stop the escalation of the conflict.
The document notes that there are conflicting data about the targets of strikes, as well as casualties and losses.
“The co-chairs condemn violations of the ceasefire and call on the parties to take all necessary measures to prevent further escalation of the conflict”, the statement stresses.
Head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev,
commenting
on the statement of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, said that the standard statement of the co-chairs, where they touched only upon the cease-fire regime, despite the 25th anniversary of the occupation of the Lachin region by the armed forces of Armenia and the speech of the Armenian president in parliament during which he allegedly denied the Madrid principles, is symptomatic.
“Despite the fact that this day marks 25 years since the occupation of Lachin region, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group did not mention this in their statement, which is an unfair and biased approach,” Hajiyev said.
“The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, concerned about the violation of the cease-fire regime, again turn a blind eye to the illegal presence of military equipment and personnel of the Armenian Armed Forces in the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan.
In addition, the statement of the co-chairs says nothing about the fact that, as in April of last year, Armenian armed forces on May 16-17 subjected civilians living along the Agdam and Terter sectors of the front to intensive mortar shelling, after which video footage found its way into circulation and in which they officially admitted to the act”.
“The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, who made a statement on the 25th anniversary of the occupation of the Lachin region of Azerbaijan and when the Armenian president denied the Madrid principles in parliament, should first have demanded the withdrawal of troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and, in accordance with the decision of the Budapest summit of the OSCE, continued intensive substantive negotiations on the political settlement of the conflict on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions”, Hikmet Hajiyev said.
