Nagorno Karabakh's Foreign Ministry comments on ICG's report on Karabakh conflict

The Foreign Ministry of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) has issued a statement, expressing concerns over the International Crisis Group's recent report on Karabakh conflict.

The text of the statement is below.

Investigating of the International Crisis Group's report entitled ‘Armenia and Azerbaijan: preventing war’, one automatically comes to the conclusion that it was written exclusively for convincing Armenia to 'soften' its positions on the negotiation process, particularly, the final status of Nagorno Karabakh.

As we know, the Republic of Armenia acts on behalf of Nagorno Karabakh in the current peace talks..But, all the actors concerned (including the ICG) must take into consideration the fact that the final decision should be made by the NKR people and authorities.

Another matter is the fairness of the report, which is written thousands of kilometers away from Nagorno Karabakh, and the authors of the document have never visited the country. What's even more, Director of the ICG's European Program Sabina Freiser recently settled down in Istanbul from where, she reportedly issued instructions for the conflicting parties. But, only one visit to the NKR is enough for realizing both the essence of the conflict and the country's efficiency and viability.

Actually, the ICG suggests that the consequences of the conflict rather than the conflict itself be settled. It just adds fuel to the fire given the extreme tension between the the conflicting countries societies. Sabina Freiser, [perhaps unconsciously] creates a new crisis situation, which, in fact, the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem seeks for attempting to resolve on the quiet the issue in its own way. No wonder Freiser assigns Ankara the role of the basic regulator in the region and a mediator in the Karabakh issue settlement. So, it is time to rename the International Crisis Group as Crisis Inciting Group.

Definitely, people in Artsakh share the ICG's concerns over the possibility of war resumption at any moment. The tension on the contact-line results from Azerbaijan's persistent policy conducted for several years running. In view of country's belligerent rhetoric, the mediators and foreign countries' soft position seems strange. The should have flatly condemned President Aliyev long ago, calling on him to renounce the policy of threats and start negotiations with the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the main party concerned. Unfortunately, the ICG's proposals cannot resolve principal conflicts. The tactics of minor concessions in favor of the aggressive party will only whet the latter's appetite.

In the current situation, it is necessary to speedily implement confidence-building measures, both military and civic. The international community should establish a direct contact with Nagorno Karabakh. The NKR's integration to international processes seems to be the only tool in the international community's arsenal for resisting the situations leading to the renewal of war. The international community's contemptuous attitude to NKR in favor of Azerbaijan only strengthens the latter’s confidence of its own right to launch a new aggression.

The international community should not repeat the mistake it made in early 1990s, when the recognition of Azerbaijan’s right to self-determination and rejection of Nagorno Karabakh's similar right were accepted by Azerbaijan as a carte blanche for realizing large-scale aggression against the NKR and suppressing its people's will. Isn't it time to learn a lesson from the past?