Alexander Markarov comments on closure of the OSCE Office in Yerevan
The closure of the OSCE Office in Yerevan was a no-win result for all stakeholders, political scientist Alexander Markarov told a press conference on Friday in Yerevan.
“The closure of the OSCE Yerevan Office occurred after Azerbaijan preferred a no-win result instead of a win-win situation. Thus, the OSCE as an international organization was unable to defend its interests. The OSCE Office in Yerevan carried out number of projects concerning the human rights, democratic development, both state structures and NGOs benefited much. The OSCE also implemented wide range of activities in the sphere of education programs. In this case, the organization was interested itself to keep its presence not only in Armenia but also in the region of the South Caucasus. That is to say the OSCE as an international organization suffered a defeat due to the activity of a member state. Notably, the blow came from a country with a system of values in contradiction to those advocated by the organization itself,” the political scientist explained.
In the expert’s words, Armenia lost as well as a result of the lack of consensus to extend the organization’s mission, since it was deprived of the implementation of number of programs. “Obviously, Azerbaijan occurred in a no-win situation as well, with its behavior showing it remained unable to follow the accepted rules of the international organization. The damage inflicted on Azerbaijan is even more to compare with the imaginary achievements,” said Markarov.
Recapping his remarks, Markarov suggested measures are to be taken to reduce involvement and the leverage of separate countries on international organizations they are member of especially having differing value systems.