By and large, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ latest statement is not different from the previous one. The only difference is the wording “occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh” – the Co-Chairs had not used this phrase in their written statements before, Giro Manoyan, Head of the Hai Daht (the Armenian Cause) office, Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) (ARF-D), told NEWS.am.

“In this aspect, the OSCE Minsk Group’s latest statement arouses some concern. What arouses concern is also the Co-Chairs’ tendency to call the Nagorno-Karabakh capital ‘Stepanakert-Hankendi’. This is the mediators’ second statement mentioning Stepanakert in parallel with Hankend, which is bewildering,” Manoyan said. The most dangerous is, however, the co-chairs’ “field mission”, its real aim being the monitoring of the territories under the Armenian side’s control for the purpose of returning Azerbaijani refugees there. Manoyan stressed that the mediators’ actions are ineffective – they are dealing with the consequences, not the causes, of the conflict. “Moreover, the mediators do not say anything about Armenian refugees or of the need for their return,” Manoyan said.

On the other hand, he sees positive aspects for the Armenian side. “Speaking of the ‘occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh,’ the co-chairs actually admit the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh itself cannot be part of Azerbaijan, and this issue is not to be debated,” Manoyan said. The negative aspect is that the mediators see Nagorno-Karabakh only within the administrative borders of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. “The Armenian side is to a great extent responsible for the situation. Neither Armenia nor Nagorno-Karabakh has ever unequivocally stated the territories under the Armenian side’s control are not to be returned. So the international community has the impression the territories are not part of Nagorno-Karabakh’s administrative borders and must be returned to Azerbaijan. The situation would be different if the Armenian side had assumed a different position and resettled the territories in time,” Manoyan said.