STEPANAKERT—“The recent military venture by Azerbaijan, which has resulted in a large number of human casualties and caused a drastic escalation of tensions in the conflict zone, is primarily aimed at undermining the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries dealing with the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict,” Foreign Minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan said in comments to News.am.

 

“The NKR authorities have repeatedly drawn the attention of the mediators and the international community as a whole to the ongoing attempts by Azerbaijan to destabilize the situation and the need to take practical and effective measures to put an end to them.

“Unfortunately, the lack of an adequate assessment and a strong and targeted condemnation of violations of the ceasefire continue to generate a false sense of permissiveness and impunity in Azerbaijan, which, against the background of complete detachment from the realities of the conflict and the negotiation process, leads only to growing tensions and deterioration of the situation.

“The current drastic escalation of tensions on the Line of Contact between the armed forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan marked the culmination of numerous provocations and violations of the ceasefire by Azerbaijan over the past few months,” Karen Mirzoyan said.

Stressing that the Karabakh side will continue to thwart any attempts by Azerbaijan to destabilize the situation on the front line and to increase the level of tensions in the conflict zone, the Foreign Minister mentioned that Artsakh consistently comes up with initiatives to reduce tensions and promote stability and predictability on the Line of Contact between the armed forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan.

“We believe that immediate implementation of the mentioned urgent measures, as well as the development of effective mechanisms to investigate violations of the ceasefire will allow stabilising the situation and quickly addressing potential incidents on the Line of Contact in the future.

On its part, Artsakh is ready to provide the international community with detailed information on the recent incidents and contribute to strengthening of the ceasefire and creating conditions for the peaceful settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh,” Mirzoyan concluded.