OSCE mission bombarded from Azeri Party – NKR MFA Rep

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Sept 23 2005

THE OSCE MISSION BOMBARDED FROM THE AZERI PARTY – THE NKR MFA
REPRESENTATIVE COMMENTS

Stepanakert rejects Baku’s affirmations concerning the fact that in
the course of the OSCE mission monitoring on September 20 cease fire
was allegedly violated by the Karabakh party.
The official representative of the NKR MFA Leonid Martirosyan told De
Facto the shot had been fixed by the OSCE representatives.
Having noted the importance of the OSCE mission’s activity in
observation of the cease fire in the conflict zone L. Martirosyan
stressed the constraining role of the regularly conducted monitoring.
Nevertheless, the NKR MFA representative noted during the intervals
between the monitoring the Azeri party had afforded cease fire
violations. Snipers fire on Karabakh forces, which results in
people’s wounds. Sometimes Armenian party undertakes answer-back
actions.
However, the tension on the contact line is not limited to it. For 2
– 3 years the Azeri divisions have been trying to advance their
positions closer to the Armenian frontier guards. They have managed
to do it in some sectors. According to the Karabakh servicemen,
Azeris have managed to come nearer to them on distance even up to 80
meters. Karabakh party has shown restraint so far. However, there are
no guarantees that it can last for a long time. Karabakh expects for
the OSCE observers to interfere with the problem, otherwise new
incidents may take place.
Stepanakert does not exclude the possibility that the tension may
increase with approach of the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan.
In case of revolutionary shocks in the neighbor Republic such
probability will increase even more. According to Freedom Radio
Station, the NKR Foreign Minister Arman Melikyan thinks if revolution
takes place in Azerbaijan the complicated political situation in the
country may be fraught with complications for the Karabakh borders.
`However, to tell the truth, I do not see prerequisites for such
changes in Azerbaijan’, stated the NKR Foreign Minister.