BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 12. The OSCE Minsk Group has de facto ceased its activities after February 2022, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said, Trend reports.
“An icon in our political lexicon, the OSCE Minsk Group apparently did not interact with each other after February 2022—or maybe before? What this means is that the OSCE Minsk Group is effectively nonexistent," he pointed out.
To note, previously, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting with the speakers of parliaments of TURKPA member states that Azerbaijan proposed to the Armenian side that the two countries jointly appeal to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to abolish the Minsk Group.
"The Minsk Group was trying to solve the Karabakh problem. In fact, it was only trying to freeze it, and the four resolutions of the UN Security Council were nothing more than a piece of paper. This is why we secured our rights and territorial integrity on the battlefield by force and within the framework of international law. But it is also true that you must have the strength to be able to defend your rights.
With regard to the Armenian-Azerbaijani process, I can say that we believe that several issues still remain outstanding. One of them is the Constitution of Armenia, which has territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Secondly, an end must be put to Armenia's groundless territorial claims against Azerbaijan and Turkiye. Of course, we have already proposed this to the Armenian side: that Azerbaijan and Armenia should jointly apply to the OSCE and abolish the Minsk Group. There is no need for the Minsk Group, and it is not functioning now. We will not allow it to operate de facto. It remains for it to be canceled de jure, legally, and this will show how sincere Armenia is. If Armenia prefers to maintain the Minsk Group, then their territorial claims against us will be continued," President Ilham Aliyev said.
Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel