EUFOA: AZERBAIJAN’S MAXIMALIST APPROACH MEANS FURTHER ESCALATION
PanARMENIAN.Net
June 19, 2012 – 15:54 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA) shares the
disappointment and recommendations issued in a statement on June 18,
2012 by the three Co-Chairing Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group at
the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico.
“In particular we regret that Azerbaijan continues blocking the
key confidence building measures, i.e. the establishment of an
investigation mechanism for incidents on the line of contact, the
removal of snipers and promotion of people to people contacts. The
on-going snail pace escalation of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict brings
dramatic risks for the entire South-Caucasus region, as well as for
the Middle East and Europe,” the EuFoA said.
“Ignoring the Presidents’ agreement of Sochi, Azerbaijan now conditions
every progress on the removal of troops. For good reasons, the Madrid
Principles proposed by the Minsk-Group foresee a troop removal in
the very specific context of the other parts of the package, ensuring
that there would be no vacuum of power and security, but an interim
status guarded by international troops and guarantees.
To pre-condition all confidence building measures to a unilateral
removal of troops is more than cynical and effectively means that Baku
simply refuses all the diplomatic steps proposed by the OSCE. This
maximalist approach means further escalation,” commented Dr Michael
Kambeck, EuFoA Secretary General. “A new war would come at insane
costs to all sides, and would certainly destroy the Azerbaijani
petro-industry, the source of Azerbaijan’s wealth and defence budget.
This may seem irrational but it is consistent, also with the highly
aggressive speeches of President Aliyev addressing international
audiences.”
EuFoA repeats its call upon the EU and other international actors
to stop “calls upon both sides” and instead to specify more clearly
which actions are expected from each side, as otherwise the respective
sources of the problems are encouraged to continue their dangerous
behaviour. The sides should also be commended individually for
positive steps and initiatives. This will assist a more result
oriented negotiation under the OSCE Minsk Group mediation. It is a
perverted interpretation of impartiality to call upon both sides,
when some problems clearly originate from this or the other side.