Azerbaijan accuses OSCE of "abusing consensus"

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan has been the “victim of abuse” of consensus in the OSCE for years, the country’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the organization, TASS reports.

Bayramov’s comments came after the OSCE decided on October 19 to send a needs assessment team to Armenia after Azerbaijan invaded the country and occupied parts of the sovereign territory of Armenia.

“The decision to send a needs assessment mission to Armenia, taken without consensus, was an open violation of the mandate approved by the collective will of all member countries of the organization,” Bayramov said.

The purpose of the mission’s visit on 21-27 October was to “assess the situation in certain border areas, on the basis of the OSCE’s mandate and expertise within its comprehensive concept of security.”

The latest round of fighting between the two countries began in the wee hours of September 13, when the Azerbaijani military attacked Armenian posts and shelled Armenian settlements both on the border and deep behind the frontline. More than 200 people are dead or missing as a result, the Security Council of Armenia said several days after the attack.