The “We are Our Mountains” monument in Artsakh

A group of Belgian lawmakers called for Artsakh’s participation in the Karabakh peace talks. In a statement issued Sunday on the 25th anniversary of the Karabakh cease fire, the group of mainly French-speaking legislators from Belgium, who are part of the Artskah Friendship Group of the Flemish parliament, also lamented at the fact that there has not been any tangible progress in the talks.

“The Agreement of May 12, 1992 put an end to the bloody war unleashed against the people of Artsakh who struggled to live free and in dignity in their ancestral homeland. The fragile peace established by the Agreement prevented further human losses and laid the foundations for peace talks aimed at finding a just and lasting solution to the conflict,” said the statement, which was distributed by the Arstsakh Foreign Ministry.

At the same time, the lawmakers expressed regret that no tangible progress has been achieved toward adopting a comprehensive agreement on establishing lasting peace over the last 25 years, “as evidenced by the resumption of the large-scale hostilities unleashed against Artsakh by Azerbaijan in April 2016.”

“We are convinced that a genuine peace process that bears fruits requires a direct dialogue with the people of Artsakh and the full-fledged participation of the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities – one of the signatories of the Ceasefire Agreement, in the negotiation process,” said the statement, in which the lawmakers stress that the conflict must be resolved peacefully.

“There is no alternative to a peaceful solution to the conflict. Curbing bellicose rhetoric, hate-speech and putting in place confidence-building, such as OSCE investigative mechanism to prevent ceasefire violations, which the Armenian side has accepted, and promoting people-to-people contacts are an essential prerequisite,” added the statement.