To the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
James Warlick (USA)
Igor Popov (Russia)
Pierre Andrieu (France)
Read also
The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office Andrzej Kasprzyk
Honorable Messieurs,
We welcome the fact that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State of the United States of America John Kerry, and State Secretary for European Affairs of France Harlem Desir, representing the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made arrangement not only to advance a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict but also agreed to the expansion of the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office in Vienna meeting held this year on May 16th. I am sure the investigative mechanism will significantly reduce the risk of further violence.
Welcoming the expected decision, at the same time I want to draw your attention to another important point. My long experience in the journalism and peacebuilding sphere proves that hate speech is sometimes more dangerous than shoots. Moreover, under the condition of the severe information war the peaceful settlement of the conflict is less effective. Therefore, I think it is time to link the settlement process directly with the information filed.
Accordingly, I call you in the range of the expansion of the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office also provide monitoring of the media of the conflict sides and ensure investigation mechanism limiting the spread of hate speech.On that issue you can rely on the journalistic organizations of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh, which have appropriate experience.
In my opinion, this kind of step will support not only to build confidence bridges between two nations but also to identify the main perpetuators of hate speech and ethnic hatred and undertake appropriate measures.
Regards,
Gegham Baghdasaryan,
President of Stepanakert Press Club, Editor-in-Chief of ”Analyticon” Monthly Journal