Karabakh president excludes unilateral withdrawal of snipers

President of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Bako Sahakyan, said on Friday that at this stage, it would be hard for Karabakh to unilaterally withdraw snipers from the Line of Contact, “since Azerbaijan continues to violate ceasefire agreement, which was put in place a long time ago,” the Asbarez.com reported.

Visiting OSCE Chairman in Office, Audronius Azubalis, during a visit to Yerevan Friday called for the unilateral withdrawal of snipers. During meetings with Sahakyan and his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sargsyan on Friday, Azubalis also commented on an incident, Thursday, when Azeri snipers killed a Karabakhi soldier hours after a Red Cross monitored prisoner exchange mission tool place.

“We believe that such suggestions may be taken into consideration only when all sides are demonstrating positive approach,” said Sahakyan. “Today, we have grounds to announce that during the past several years Azerbaijan has violated, on numerous occasions, previous agreements. Under such circumstances, we cannot unilaterally accept Mr. Azubalis’ proposal.”

Sahakyan pointed out that a proposal to withdraw snipers was also not accepted by Azerbaijan, which means that Azerbaijan is not prepared to tone down the tension on the lines of contact.

Upon hearing Azubalis’ proposal, Sahakyan cited the killing of a 19-year-old soldier the day before, pointing out that every time an OSCE Minsk Group delegation is conducting a tour of the region, the Azerbaijani side never fails to carry out its diversion terrorism.
“We are deeply convinced that innocent soldiers and officers are being killed and we presented this perspective to the Chairman-in-Office, explaining that tension does not provide an advantage to either side. Thus, this is yet another proof that the tensions created by Azerbaijan are artificial,” explained Sahakyan.

He also said that he supports the OSCE using its mandates to impose punishment to any side that violations the ceasefire agreement.

During a press conference Friday, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian said Armenia and Karabakh prefer a mutual withdrawal of snipers.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict sparked in the early 1990s when Karabakhi Armenians voiced their intention to live independently from Azerbaijan after more than six decades of autonomy and sporadic clashes between the two nations that intensified after 1988.
Later, the tension spiralled into pogroms against Armenians in Sumgait, Baku and Nagorno Karabakh that turned into a bloody war, leaving around 30,000 killed and more than a million displaced.

Currently the peace talks over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement are spearheaded by the co-chair states of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the United States.