WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) sharply condemned the dissolution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group today, warning that the decision represents a setback to multilateral diplomatic engagement in ensuring a just, durable, and dignified peace in the South Caucasus region.
“The dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group is not a step toward peace, but an Azerbaijan-imposed condition to advance a lopsided deal secured through coercion and the use of force. This dangerous precedent rewards Baku’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, illegal imprisonment and torture of Armenian prisoners, and ongoing occupation of sovereign Armenian lands – undermining the very principles of international law and diplomacy the Minsk process once embodied,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
ANCA’s Aram Hamparian comments on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group as a setback to multilateral diplomatic engagement in ensuring a just, durable, and dignified peace in the South Caucasus region.
“U.S. leadership is more vital than ever to enforce Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, apply Global Magnitsky sanctions, and rally international partners to build a lasting and durable South Caucasus peace based on accountability and justice – ensuring the protected return of Artsakh’s indigenous Armenian population, the Azerbaijan’s immediate release of Armenian prisoners, the protection of Armenian cultural heritage, and the security and sovereignty of Armenia,” concluded Hamparian.
The Armenian National Committee – International stressed that in the absence of the OSCE Minsk Group, “genuine multilateralism and international mediation—remains indispensable.” In a statement issued earlier today, they urged the OSCE and broader international community “to remain engaged, to uphold their human rights and humanitarian mandates, and to work actively for the protection of the rights of displaced Armenians, the release of hostages, and the preservation of cultural heritage. Only sustained, impartial, and principled engagement can secure the dignity and rights of the people of Artsakh and make possible a real, lasting peace in the South Caucasus.”
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Established in 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by the United States, France, and Russia – was the multilateral entity formally mandated to mediate the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. The decision to dissolve the platform follows the August 8 signing of a U.S.-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan agreement, which was sharply criticized by the ANCA and a broad range of human rights and civil society leaders as a dangerous deal that sidelines justice, undermines Armenia’s sovereignty, and rewards Azerbaijan’s unpunished aggression. That package failed to address the central issues at the heart of a just peace: the safe and dignified right of return for over 150,000 Armenians ethnically cleansed from Artsakh, the immediate and unconditional release of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages, the protection of Armenian Christian heritage, and enforceable guarantees for Armenia’s security and sovereignty.
The signing also took place without any acknowledgment of Azerbaijan’s genocidal campaign against Artsakh Armenians, its ongoing illegal imprisonment of Artsakh leaders, or its continuing military occupation of sovereign Armenian territory. Given the absence of any meaningful security guarantees for Armenia in the agreement, the ANCA maintains that renewed multilateral engagement is essential to ensure Azerbaijan is held accountable to this peace process – and to avert the risk of Baku imposing increasingly unfair and unreasonable demands on Armenia, as it has throughout the negotiation process.
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