The long-awaited report of the Appraisal Mission on occupied territories of Azerbaijan of the OSCE Minsk Group was published on March 24. However, the web-site published only a summary of the report. The main conclusion made by the co-chairs is that the reality of Nagorno-Karabakh proves the unacceptability of the status quo and that only a peaceful settlement of the conflict can provide people with a future.
The Appraisal Mission examined the situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in early October 2010. The initiator was Baku. The visit of the co-chairs and experts was the first mission by the international community to this territory since 2005 and the first UN visit in the last 18 years. The co-chairs saw clear results of the tragic consequences of the conflict. Towns and villages, which existed before the conflict, are now ruined. No growth in the population has been observed. The infrastructure has not been developed, neither has the economy. Many residents don't even have any passports.
Moreover, the authorities of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic have united the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and other lands and established eight new regions. The co-chairs urged the conflicting parties to take no action on the disputed territory.
The report is devoted to the next steps of the parties to make these territories peaceful. It will be an important part of the negotiating process. Azerbaijan has all the resources to reconstruct the occupied regions and bring economic prosperity. The co-chairs stated the necessity of changing the status quo. This means urging Armenia to leave the territory of Karabakh.
Yugeny Krishtalev. Exclusively to Vk
