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A special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council was held on Thursday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.

During the exchange of views, Ambassador Armen Papikyan, head of the Armenian mission to the OSCE, delivered remarks, reflecting on the recurrent provocations by Azerbaijan on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact with Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and military clashes, which resulted in casualties.

The diplomat called attention to the issue of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian captives being held in Azerbaijan, as well as the enforced disappearances, which have not yet been resolved due to Azerbaijan's violation of the November 9 trilateral statement and its international commitments in the field of human rights.

Papikyan called on the OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries to take effective measures to stop Azerbaijan’s provocations and to resume the Karabakh peace process.

Also, the ambassador urged the Polish OSCE Chairmanship to stay focused on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and expressed hope that the chairmanship, together with other international partners, would use this mechanism to send a clear message to Azerbaijan that the continued use of force cannot be tolerated and remain without consequences.

Azerbaijan must immediately stop its provocations, withdraw its troops from the sovereign territory of Armenia, stop the escalation of tensions both on the Armenian border and on the line of contact with Artsakh, and fulfill its obligations, Papikyan underscored.