European Armenian Federation's President, Kaspar Karampetian

BRUSSELS—The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Thursday was scheduled to consider a report for the General Committee on Political Affairs and Security, titled “The OSCE: Region of Change”, to be represented by Lithuanian rapporteur Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene.

“The OSCE: Region of Change” report tackles issues of security, defence, conflicts, threats, conventional arms control, cyber-security and other relevant issues.

The report makes a special mention to the unresolved or protracted conflicts, and specifically mentions that the “Nagorno-Karabakh conflict continues to cost lives along the line of contact, and tensions in this region are still extremely high. The Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group, together with the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, are working on developing a plan for peace, and it is now mainly up to these parties to work to resolve the conflict and reach an agreement. An important first step is to ensure that the ceasefire agreement is being respected and that snipers are withdrawn”.

The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) once again reiterates its long and firm standing position that snipers have to be withdrawn from the line of contact, as a confidence building measure. The leadership of the Republic of Armenia have agreed to this, but Azerbaijan’s refusal of doing so is claiming an increasingly number of innocent lives. The European Armenian Federation once again demands from the OSCEPA to have a strong stance on this issue and call on the Azerbaijani President to do so, and pull the snipers away from the line of contact.

The report also mentions, that “it is also vital that full investigations are conducted when conflict-related incidents occur. The joint statement by the Minsk Group Co-Chair countries and the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, issued in Vilnius on 7 December 2011, reaffirmed the importance of reaching a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”.

European Armenian Federation’s President, Kaspar Karampetian states that “we demand a strong action from the OSCEPA in investigating Azerbaijan’s acts of diversion attacks, especially in regard to attacks against the Republic of Armenia, like the ones we witnessed last month, on the day of OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s visit to the region, and only a few hours before her arrival to Armenia”.

“We will follow those issues closely with the OSCEPA, and also follow the issue of conventional arms control and confidence building. Azerbaijani adventurism endangers the ceasefire and draw the region in renewed fighting. Azerbaijan needs to avoid such acts of violence if it is genuinely concerned in peace, security and co-operation in the region. Armenia has shown goodwill by numerous times, now it is Azerbaijan’s time”, concluded Karampetian.