Karabakh Lawmakers Call on OSCE to Assess Latest Escalation

Lawmakers in the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) called on international organizations and, above all, co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which has the only recognized mandate of settling the Karabakh problem, to provide a clear legal and political assessment of terrorist acts against NKR.

YEREVAN (Sputnik) – Lawmakers in the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) called on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday to assess the latest escalation in violence.

Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on an immediate ceasefire on Tuesday, after almost four days of intense fighting in Azerbaijan's disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh with predominantly Armenian population that led to 33 deaths, according to the UN. The parties have since accused each other of multiple ceasefire violations.

"We call on international organizations and, above all, co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which has the only recognized mandate of settling the Karabakh problem, to provide a clear legal and political assessment of terrorist acts against NKR," the lawmakers said in a statement.

In their view, the "shortest and only" sensible way to resolve the escalation was "international recognition of NKR, which will ensure the safety of its people and stability in the region with full and internationally recognized safeguards."

Nagorno-Karabakh has been at the center of a bitter conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Fighting began in 1988, when the autonomous region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. The region proclaimed independence when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

The OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France, has been mediating the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement since 1992. The group's ambassadors met in Vienna on Tuesday to discuss the recent outbreak of violence in the region.