NKR: Azerbaijan trying to reduce neutral area width

PanARMENIAN.Net - "For over eight years the Azerbaijani side has been attempting to bring its outposts closer to our positions, reducing the width of the neutral area. Experience shows that the ceasefire is often violated in those places where the outposts of the conflict sides are closer," said Masis Mayilyan, former Deputy Foreign Minister of the Nagrono Karabakh Republic.



"The roots of the escalation on the line of contact should be sought in the absence of distinct mechanisms of control of cease-fire. The activities of the office of the personal representative of the OSCE CiO are necessary but not sufficient," he said.



"The recent events in Martakert caused a heated debate within the international community. It is evident that the countries and organizations involved in the peace process over Karabakh are interested in maintaining peace and stability in our region. Since regional stability is both in our interest and in the interest of the key regional actors, it would be advisable to launch consultation with the OSCE and the mediating countries to work out mechanisms of maintenance of ceasefire. During the consultation, NKR as one of the sides in the conflict could come up with an initiative to hold monitoring more frequently by the civilian observers of the OSCE, and in the second stage the international control could become permanent," he said.



"During the talks it is necessary to consider the issue of setting up and dispatching a new OSCE observation mission to the region, since expanding the staff and powers of the office of the personal representative of the OSCE CiO will be beneficial. In order to raise the effectiveness of mechanisms of control it is necessary to enlarge the neutral area through restoring the status quo post bellum. In other words, the Azerbaijani troops should return to the positions which they used to occupy in May 1994. The exact coordinates of the line of contact should be presented by the relevant agencies of the Minsk Group countries, as well as the OSCE office, the representatives of which have been monitoring the line for over a decade. In this situation, initiatives by NKR can not only raise the level of physical security of our citizens but also underline that NKR is a party," Mr Mayilyan resumed, KarabakhOpen reports.
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