Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Thursday told a visiting delegation of OSCE leaders that the organization’s Minsk Group Co-Chairs have a key role in the Karabakh conflict settlement process, the foreign ministry press service reported.
Mirzoyan was meeting with Margareta Cederfelt, the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, who is heading a delegation to Yerevan.
During the meeting, Mirzoyan presented Yerevan’s positions on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process, as well as the work carried out to normalize the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
He stressed that despite Azerbaijan’s claims that Nagorno Karabakh no longer exists, that there is no Nagorno Karabakh conflict, there is a general consensus among the international community that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict remains unresolved.
Mirzoyan also stressed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should find a comprehensive settlement within the framework of the only internationally authorized mediation mandate, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs’ format.
Armenia’s top diplomat also expressed concern about the continuous anti-Armenian and belligerent rhetoric provocative actions against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh by Azerbaijan’s leadership. He condemned Azerbaijan’s continued statements about aspirations toward the sovereign territory of Armenia, which seriously call into question Baku’s sincerity for achieving peace in the region.
Mirzoyan also told his guests that through gross violation of the norms of international humanitarian law, Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenian prisoners of war and civilians hostage, as well as pursues a targeted policy of destroying and distorting Armenian religious and cultural heritage in the territories that passed under its control after the 44-day war. In this context, the importance of practical steps by the international community to fully address these urgent issues was emphasized.
Cederfelt and her delegation also met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who highlighted the importance of working toward regional stability and peace and stressed the need for an adequate response by the international community to provocative statements and actions undermining those efforts.
Pashinyan also underscored the need for a comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.
