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The Artsakh Foreign Ministry on Tuesday issued a statement, which runs as follows:

“We welcome the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries aimed at immediate cessation of hostilities unleashed by Azerbaijan, threatening regional security and stability. In this context, we note the statement by Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair states strongly condemning the unprecedented and dangerous escalation of violence in the conflict zone.

We emphasize the central role of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship as the only agreed format which carries out mediation in the process of the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict.  At the same time, we reiterate the principled position of the Republic of Artsakh on the inadmissibility of Turkey’s participation in any form in international mediation efforts within the framework of the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict. The criminal conduct of Turkey, which exercises command and control of the armed aggression against the Republic of Artsakh, supplies weapons to Azerbaijan for waging the war and recruits fighters from terrorist organizations in the Middle East to participate in the hostilities, make its further membership in the OSCE Minsk Group impossible.

The Republic of Artsakh has repeatedly stressed that the effectiveness of mediation efforts is directly contingent on the ability to ensure the irreversibility of the settlement process, and the introduction of effective mechanisms for non-resumption of hostilities. Two large-scale armed attacks by Azerbaijan on the Republic of Artsakh over the past four years clearly demonstrate that the previous concepts of the mediators proved to be ineffective against Azerbaijan’s flagrant disrespect not only for its international obligations, but also for the norms of international law, and have been nullified by the internationally wrongful acts of Baku.

In current situation, international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh is the most effective means of ensuring peace and security in the region, which will guarantee a solid basis for the negotiated settlement of the conflict.”