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“Maintaining the status quo in Nagorno Karabakh cost much for the both parties to the conflict,” the UK Ambassador to Armenia Judith Farnworth stated at an academic workshop “The Caucasus 2016” opened in Yerevan on Friday. The Ambassador stressed the United Kingdom fully supports the OSCE Minsk Group mandate to establish stability in the region.

Ambassador of Switzerland in Armenia Lukas Gasser, in attendance of the event, noted on his part, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict has no military solution. He also expressed regret about the closure of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, suggesting the move may limit the OSCE’s engagement in the region.

Reflecting on the Swiss-Armenian economic relations, Lukas Gasser said the Swiss companies are looking to boost bilateral trade copperation, despite the relatively low pace of the ongoing economic reforms in Armenia.

The Head of the Caucasus Institute Alexander Iskandaryan, present at the discussion, noted the year 2016 was rich and important in terms of developments.

“First, it was the April war, that has already entered the history books under the name of Four-Day War. I tend to consider that as escalation rather than a war, not to mention a lost war. Azerbaijan had prepared that military offensive over more than two decades,” Iskandaryan stressed.
Another major development that marked the previous year, was the storm of the police station in Yerevan by armed group members called “Sasna Tsrer,” Iskandaryan recalled.

The political scientist also referred to the military parade held on September 21 as another major event of the past year, where Armenia demonstrated its latest armament after the April escalation. 

Associate Professor at Russian State Humanitarian University Sergey Markedonov on his part recalled the main events in Azerbaijan in 2016, the April war and the devaluation of manat, to mention some. 

“Azerbaijan, however, failed to gain serous military success, take Stepanakert, as it used to promise for years. Following the April escalation, the OSCE Minsk group once again called for the exclusively peaceful solution of the Karabakh conflict, yet the escalation never led to the launch of political discussions aimed at the conflict settlement,” Markedonov said.