YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS. Official Baku spares no efforts to show that it does not intend to settle the Nagorno Karabakh conflict through peaceful negotiations and attempts to change the status quo by escalating the situation on the border. Political scientist Hrant Melik- Shahnazaryan expressed such an opinion in an interview with “Armenpress” referring to the fact that after the statement issued by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, strictly calling on ceasefire preservation, Azerbaijan continues to intencively violate the ceasefire.

“Before Andrzej Kasprzyk’s announcement, both OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and heads of Co-chair countries have made several announcements. It is obvious that Azerbaijan ignores all the calls of the international community and tries to achieve status quo change through regularly escalating the situation”, the Political scientist said.

In his words, Azerbaijan’s mentioned policy has no future. The thing is that Azerbaijan understands very well that it cannot ensure the results it has promised to its own public through peaceful negotiations. “But Azerbaijan also understands very well that it cannot settle the issue through military methods. Hence, it just tries to save time, hoping that time will work for its benefits”, Hrant Melik- Shahnazaryan said.

The Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh Republic hailed the call of Personal Representative to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk’s to adhere to the ceasefire regime. The announcement provided by the NKR Defense Ministry to “Armenpress” mentions about this. “We state that the Defense Army of NKR has taken unilateral measures of trust building and de-escalating the situation during the entire period of the confrontation and is ready to remain faithful to its position also during the period mentioned by the Personal Representative to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. At the same time we expected to find a clear point in the announcement of the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan about their readiness to preserve the ceasefire regime and  not to take provocative measures”, NKR Defense Ministry’s statements reads.

Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office conducted a monitoring exercise on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan as part of his mandate on March 17, after which he left for Tbilisi. 

“I received information from both sides on recent developments on the border, and listened to their concerns. Both sides highlighted the proximity of villages to the front lines, and that civilians have suffered greatly from ceasefire violations as a particular concern.” Reads the statement issued by the office of the Personal Representative to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office

Personal Representative Kasprzyk said: “In light of the upcoming Nowruz Bayram and Easter holidays, I call on the sides to strictly adhere to the ceasefire and to avoid any action on the line of contact or on the border that could lead to an increase in tensions.”