YEREVAN, June 13 (Itar-Tass) —— All parties to the Karabakh conflict should abstain from using force, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore said in Yerevan on Tuesday. Yerevan is a leg of his regional tour.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) thinks there is no military solution to the Karabakh conflict and rejects the use of force and the threats to use force, he said.
Gilmore expressed concern over the latest incidents along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, in which servicemen died on both sides. He said he condemned the latest armed incidents and believed it was time to stop the period of violence. Gilmore said he had made a similar appeal in Azerbaijan on Thursday.
He said it was time to create an atmosphere of trust. That will require will and determination to ensure peace, he added.
Ireland knows well how harmful conflicts are and how difficult it is to find solutions, and it also knows that it is important to elaborate a clear and adamant course for avoiding violence or revenge, he said.
Gilmore confirmed support to the OSCE Minsk Group, which mediates the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. The OSCE may help states and peoples; it may provide a floor for the dialog and assist the strengthening of ceasefire and search for solutions at negotiations, he said.
However, in order to make progress in the settlement of the protracted crisis the sides must do more in their work on the general settlement principles, agree to mechanisms of the investigation of incidents along the contact line and find ways to implement the agreements of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents on the promotion of humanitarian contacts, he said.
The organization supports the right of nations to self-determination, territorial integrity and non-use of force, as well as the work of the OSCE Minsk Group assisting the Karabakh peace process, he said.