Escalation of tension in Karabakh carrying threat of war between Azerbaijan and Armenia
16.05.2016,
19:22
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Monday in Vienna ahead of the OSCE Minks Group co-chairs’ meeting that the longer conflict in Nagorno Karabakh lasts the more intensive the conflicting sides arm themselves and the higher new escalation risk, including a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
YEREVAN, May 16. /ARKA/. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Monday in Vienna ahead of the OSCE Minks Group co-chairs’ meeting that the longer conflict in Nagorno Karabakh lasts the more intensive the conflicting sides arm themselves and the higher new escalation risk, including a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Talks over Nagorno-Karabakh settlement are expected to be held Monday evening in Vienna with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group as well as Russian and French foreign ministers and the U.S. secretary of state.
Steinmeier was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying that said that the OSCE plays an important part in settlement of the conflict.
He said Germany, as chair of the OSCE, supports France, Russia and the United States’ years-long efforts to settle the conflict.
The aim, he said, should be to establish and strengthen ceasefire regime along the contact line and to launch negotiations, but there will be no a quick solution - this will take some time.
On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was arranged.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, though no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
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Talks over Nagorno-Karabakh settlement are expected to be held Monday evening in Vienna with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group as well as Russian and French foreign ministers and the U.S. secretary of state.
Steinmeier was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying that said that the OSCE plays an important part in settlement of the conflict.
He said Germany, as chair of the OSCE, supports France, Russia and the United States’ years-long efforts to settle the conflict.
The aim, he said, should be to establish and strengthen ceasefire regime along the contact line and to launch negotiations, but there will be no a quick solution - this will take some time.
On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was arranged.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, though no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
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