Information
Equipo Nizkor
        Bookshop | Donate
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor       

03Apr16


No military solution to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - CSTO secretary general


The conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh can be settled only by political means within the framework of the existing international mechanisms, there is no military solution to that conflict, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said on Sunday citing its Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha.

"The CSTO secretariat is closely watching the situation at the line of engagement. The position of the CSTO member countries on that matter has been announced more than once - they insist on cessation of hostilities and peace settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Its continuation is fraught with destabilization of the situation in the entire Caucasian region. One thing is crystal clear - all need only peace," Bordyuzha said.

According to the CSTO secretariat, the CSTO secretary general is in constant contact with the military and political leaders of Armenia over the resumed hostilities in the conflict zone in Nagorno-Karabakh on April 2. On Sunday, he had telephone conversation with Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan and Defense Minister Seiran Oganyan to discuss the developments in the zone of the armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. "The CSTO secretariat is receiving all necessary information from the Armenian side," the secretariat said.

On April 2, Bordyuzha had a telephone conversations with the Armenian foreign and defense ministers. The sides agreed that urgent measures are needed to stabilize the situation and stop hostilities.

The situation along the line of engagement of the conflicting parties in Nagorno-Karabakh deteriorated dramatically overnight to April 2. Following fierce armed clashes at the contact line, the parties to the conflict accused each other of violating truce.

History of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

The highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh (Mountainous Karabakh) is a mostly Armenian-populated enclave inside the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. It was the first zone of inter-ethnic tensions and violence to appear on the map of the former Soviet Union.

Even almost a quarter of a century after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Karabakh remains a so-called 'frozen conflict' on the post-Soviet space, as the region is the subject of a dispute between Azerbaijan and the local Armenian population that draws on strong support from fellow-countrymen in neighboring Armenia.

In 1988, hostilities broke out there between the forces reporting to the government in Baku and Armenian residents, which resulted in the region's de facto independence.

In 1994, a ceasefire was reached but relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have remain strained ever since then.

Russia, France and the U.S. co-chair the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which attempts to broker an end to hostilities and the conflict.

[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 03Apr16]

Bookshop Donate Radio Nizkor

Russian Affairs
small logoThis document has been published on 04Apr16 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.