OSCE Minsk Group: Proposals and Failure, the View from Azerbaijan.

• Author: Abilov, Shamkhal
• Position: ARTICLE - Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Introduction

The OSCE Minsk Group was created by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in 1992 to provide a political solution and a peaceful settlement to the dispute, over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Since the involvement of the Minsk Group in the negotiation process, the parties to the conflict have placed great hopes on this negotiating institute. However, the "usefulness" of the Minsk Group, particularly the co-chair countries, namely; Russia, the U.S., and France, as peace brokers over the dispute of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, was brought up for discussion by the parties to the conflict as well as experts. (1) It was said that while assuming the role of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, it became apparent that the aim of the OSCE "Troika" was to maintain the stability in order to preserve their national interests in the region rather than to provide a forum for the ongoing negotiation process and bring about a peaceful settlement of the conflict. In recent years, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and other officials of Azerbaijan have raised their concerns regarding the impartiality of the Minsk Group and increased their criticisms toward it for not helping Azerbaijan to regain the occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions. Some officials have also accused the OSCE "Troika" of pro-Armenian bias. According to the spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev the reason for the continuation of the Armenian military occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan "is the reconciliatory stance of the OSCE Minsk [Group] against the continuing occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia." (2) Regarding the position of the OSCE Minsk Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) report on the situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev highlighted that "The OSCE Minsk Group, which interferes with the activities of other international organizations that seek to contribute to the settlement of the conflict, as well as in the affairs of a sovereign state which appealed to international organizations with an issue of serious concern, with this statement brings into question the objectivity of mediation efforts by the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as undermining their credibility." According to his speech, "The OSCE Minsk Group still falls short of a mandate issued by the UN Security Council, and for more than 20 years has not achieved any breakthrough in resolving the conflict... [Therefore, it does] not have any reasons to act as a monopolist in the negotiation process." (3) Furthermore, in his address to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on February 11, 2016 Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov spoke about current security challenges in the South Caucasus and said that "delay in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the remaining status-quo has a negative impact on regional security and the implementation of regional projects." (4) Therefore, he stressed "the need to revitalize the Minsk Group for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict." (5) According to Azimov, the current format of the Minsk Group creates a favorable political situation for Armenia to act conveniently to its wishes, which increases the concern of Azerbaijan regarding the position of the Minsk Group. Furthermore, he highlighted that the negotiation process that is carried out by three co-chair countries serves the national interests of these countries. (6) That is why he called "for a meeting of all members of the Minsk Group to be convened to ensure full use of this format in resolving the conflict." (7)

Therefore, because of these issues, Azerbaijan raised its concerns about the impartiality of the Minsk Group that is co-chaired by Russia, the U.S., and France, countries where large Armenian communities exist and enjoy great influence on the governments. It was believed that the OSCE "Troika" must not be the only countries to spearhead international efforts in order to end the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. This research paper will give a general overview of the Minsk Group and its peace-making attempts for the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the attitudes of the co-chair countries of the Minsk Group; Russia, the U.S., and France towards the conflict. It will then address the question: Why does Azerbaijan accuse the Minsk Group of being biased in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

Coming to the research methodology, major qualitative research methods are going to be used for the implementation of this research, with secondary data analysis, being the most compatible. Hence, the primary method used to answer the research question is content analysis. The primary sources that are going to be used for this research are official documents, reports, official statements, and proposals by the Minsk Group. These primary sources will be supplemented by secondary sources, including books, periodical journals, and relevant websites.

OSCE Minsk Group: General Overview and Peace Attempts

The Minsk Group was created by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now OSCE-Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) in order to find a peaceful solution to the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. (8) On March 24, 1992, at the Helsinki meeting, the OSCE Council requested the chairman-in-office to call an immediate conference, under its auspices, to provide a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis on the basis of the OSCE's principles, commitments, and provisions. The Budapest Summit of Heads of State or Government decided to establish a co-chairmanship for the Minsk Group on December 6, 1994. And three months later, while implementing the Budapest decision on March 23, 1995, the chairman-in-office of OSCE issued the mandate for the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group. (9) According to the decision of the Budapest Summit, the name of the CSCE was changed to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) from the beginning of the following year. One of the important decisions adopted during the summit was increasing the role of the CSCE in the direction of the restoration of peace and security in Europe. (10) In this regard, the Heads of States or Governments of the CSCE member states agreed on the establishment of the institute of the co-chairmanship of the CSCE Minsk Conference for coordinating all mediations between the countries of the CSCE, which "became the main settlement mechanism, while the Minsk Group was used as a platform for political consultations." (11) During the Summit, the Heads of States and Governments of the CSCE member states also discussed the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh and added the appropriate provision to the document in this respect, which was called "Intensification of CSCE action in relation to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict." (12)

Since the involvement of the Minsk Group in the negotiation process the parties to the conflict held great hopes in this negotiating institute, as it consists of not only the regional countries, such as Russia and Turkey, but also European and North American countries, which inspired the belief that such a broad representation would end the conflict peacefully. Currently, the Minsk Group consists of the following permanent participating States: Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Turkey and the principal parties to the conflict, Azerbaijan and Armenia, and co-chairs of the group, Russia, the U.S., and France that are called the "Troika" of the Minsk Group. The main objectives of the Minsk Group are summarized as follows: (i) Providing an appropriate framework for conflict resolution in the way of assuring the negotiation process supported by the Minsk Group; (ii) Obtaining conclusion by the Parties of an agreement on the cessation of the armed conflict in order to permit the convening of the Minsk Conference; (iii) Promoting the peace process by deploying OSCE multinational peacekeeping forces.

As per the OSCE, if the above-mentioned objectives of the Minsk Group are fully met then the process can be considered to be successfully concluded. (13) In this respect, since 1997, the Minsk Group has presented three proposals for the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to the parties to the conflict, referred to as the "package deal," "step-by-step deal," and "common state deal" proposals. (14) Later on, the Minsk Group initiated the Prague Process and Madrid Principles. However, none of the options and methodologies presented by the Minsk Group was accepted by the conflicting parties and the representatives of the high-level negotiations failed to achieve the settlement of the conflict. (15) The only achievements that can be considered in the settlement of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh are the ceasefire agreement that was signed in May 1994 in Bishkek and the Moscow declaration of 2008. Yet, it should be emphasized that it was Russia alone that brokered the ceasefire and initiated the Moscow declaration not the Minsk Group.

"Package Deal" Proposal of July 1997

The Comprehensive Agreement to Resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict of the Minsk Group, known as the "package deal" peace proposal, was introduced to the parties to conflict on July 18, 1997 in order to find an overall agreement for a basic framework for the peace plan on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The proposal specified the solution of all aspects of the conflict at the same time, including the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. (16) According to the proposal, the parties were urged to cease the armed conflict and to re-establish normal relations, and then reach agreements on the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh. In Agreement I, parties to conflict are requested to solve the conflict by peaceful means. As it is indicated: "Renounce the use of armed force to settle disputes...