OSCE Minsk Group issues statement before PACE key debate of anti-Armenian resolutions
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France – welcome efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and are prepared to work cooperatively with those committed to a peaceful settlement. In a statement issued on January 22, the international mediators said, “We understand that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) may consider resolutions on the conflict in the near future and remind PACE, and other regional and international organizations, that the Minsk Group remains the only accepted format for negotiations. We appreciate the interest paid by PACE members, but urge that steps not be taken which could undermine the Minsk Group’s mandate from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe or complicate ongoing negotiations.” Two anti-Armenian reports are included in the agenda of the PACE winter session. One of the draft resolutions – “Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan” - is authored by British MP Robert Walter. The second draft resolution is entitled “Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water” by MP Milica Marković (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The resolutions will be put to the vote on January 26.
