OSCE monitoring in Karabakh conflict zone becomes useless, Azerbaijani experts assert

The OSCE monitoring on the contact line of troops in the Karabakh conflict zone have lost their significance as a factor to deter the parties to the conflict from violating the ceasefire. This opinion was voiced by Azerbaijani experts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 11, the OSCE mission conducted enhanced monitoring in the Karabakh conflict zone. The observers did not register violations of the ceasefire, although the parties to the conflict regularly allege violation of the ceasefire.

According to Azad Isazade, a military expert and a staff member of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), against the background of daily mutual accusations of shelling voiced by the parties to the conflict, the OSCE monitoring reveals limited nature of the supervisory mechanism.

"The monitoring is conducted by Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman, and two or three of his field assistants from both sides of the front line. When the monitoring is carried out, its time and place are sanctioned by both parties to the conflict, and therefore, no shelling occurs at the time of monitoring conducted by the OSCE representatives," Azad Isazade told the" Caucasian Knot ".

The experts has noted that even in the cases where the shootouts occurred and the observers themselves were shelled, the OSCE mission still did not made public statements.

The OSCE monitoring carried out on the contact line is of formal nature. This opinion was voiced by Uzeir Djafarov, a military expert and the leader of the NGO "Military Journalists".

"There is no benefit from the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group and the OSCE monitoring mission... Even in cases when it registers shootouts, the OSCE mission does not reveal the offenders," Uzeir Djafarov told the "Caucasian Knot".

According to the military expert, for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, the international community should persuade the parties to the conflict to conclude a political agreement.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.