If the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs succeed in persuading Azerbaijan to conduct an investigation in the line of contact between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces, it will be significant progress in the conflict resolution, Leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD) Vahan Hovhannisyan told a press conference on Friday.  He commented on the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ proposal to investigate ceasefire violations on the frontline.

Hovhannisyan expressed doubt that Azerbaijan will agree to the mediators’ initiative. “If Azerbaijan fails to work with Nagorno-Karabakh in the course of the investigation, the process will fail.  Incidents on the frontline are registered due  to truce violations by the Azerbaijani armed forces. The OSCE Minsk Group must carry out an investigation with no other country but Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan,” he stressed.

Hovhannisyan also noted Baku will refuse the initiative specifically to hinder the investigation as it is Azerbaijan that violates the truce.

Armenian News-NEWS.am reminds readers that, reported earlier, the OSCE Misnk Group Co-Chairs released a statement on Wednesday. The Co-Chairs have asked Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office, to carry out an immediate investigation with the participation of all sides, as agreed in the March 5 joint statement issued in Sochi by Presidents Dmitri Medvedev, Ilham Aliyev, and Serge Sargsian. The Co-Chairs will travel next week to the region, where they will call upon the parties to cooperate fully with the investigation.

The Co-Chairs strongly condemn any loss of life, and urge all sides to exercise restraint, respect the 1994 cease-fire, and fulfill their obligations undertaken in Astrakhan in October 2010 and Sochi earlier this month.”

Official Yerevan has already welcomed the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ initiative.