Russia, U.S. insincere in Karabakh settlement efforts: Turkish Minister

June 30, 2014 - 14:58 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish Minister on EU Affairs accused the OSCE Minsk Group and international players of lack of sincerity in their efforts to settle the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, APA reported.

“If members of Minsk Group, the U.S. and Russia really wanted a solution, the Karabakh conflict would have already been settled”, Mevlut Chavushoglu said.

Chavushoglu noted that the OSCE influence in the Ukraine crisis should be discussed: “On one hand, it’s important to prevent conflicts, eliminate existing conflicts, on the other hand, it’s essential to solve frozen conflicts to avoid further complications."

According to him, today's crisis in Ukraine is a consequence of other unsettled conflicts.

"Frozen conflicts are a threat to the whole Europe. In order to solve these problems, we need to behave sincerely and objectively," he said.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out as result of the ethnic cleansing launched by the Azeri authorities in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994 (when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions are now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.

The OSCE Minsk Group

The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The Minsk Group is headed by a Co-Chairmanship consisting of France, Russia and the United States. The main objectives of the Minsk Process are as follows: Providing an appropriate framework for conflict resolution in the way of assuring the negotiation process supported by the Minsk Group; Obtaining conclusion by the Parties of an agreement on the cessation of the armed conflict in order to permit the convening of the Minsk Conference; Promoting the peace process by deploying OSCE multinational peacekeeping forces.