In a recent comprehensive interview with a Russian TV channel, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev addressed the longstanding issue of the OSCE Minsk Group. This organization, formed to mediate the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Garabagh region, has long been a contentious topic in peace negotiations.
President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the need to abolish the OSCE Minsk Group, questioning its relevance now that Armenia has recognized Garabagh as part of Azerbaijan. He stated,“Our second condition is the abolition of the OSCE Minsk Group. Since this issue is decided by consensus, it is formally impossible to do it without Armenia's consent. Although the OSCE Minsk Group has not been functional for a long time, it still formally exists. Our question is this: if Armenia has recognized Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan and the Minsk Group was created to solve the Karabakh issue, why is it still needed?”
However, the quotes of the Azerbaijani President above are as simple as the plain mathematical calculation, which is complicated by the third party for an obvious reason – to preserve the organization its presence in the South Caucasus.
The OSCE Minsk Group was established in 1992 by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), now known as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), to facilitate a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Azerbaijan joined the OSCE Paris Charter in December 1993, hoping for a diplomatic solution.
Following the first participation of Azerbaijan in the OSCE Summit in Helsinki on July 8–10, 1992, the country was encouraged to join the OSCE Paris Charter, on December 20, 1993, in hopes of finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.
The tradition of holding a series of meetings by the OSCE Minsk Group came at least as long as a decade until 2002 with no effective result leaving many questioning the true intentions behind the prolonged negotiations. They simply said OSCE mediation had not been effective enough. But the reason behind the scene remained unclear and this uncertainty in the long-lasting and ineffective negotiations made those parties quite happy who are groundlessly accusing Azerbaijan over a so-called “ethnic cleansing” in Garabagh, literally in Azerbaijan’s own territory.
However, there were a couple more meetings in 2015 and 2017 in Switzerland between Azerbaijan and Armenia with the mediation of the unsuccessful OSCE Minsk Group. Although the latter summit was to mitigate tensions on the former Line of Contact, that caused Armenia to resort to its offensive in 2020.
The Second Garabagh War effectively ended the relevance of the Minsk Group in the South Caucasus. Despite its diminished role, the Minsk Group’s co-chairs continued their activities independently, often with conflicting objectives. The final roundtable discussions in 2020 marked the end of an era, with Azerbaijan’s decisive actions seemingly at odds with the Minsk Group’s “peace agenda.”
Later, the OSCE Minsk Group showed its negative effect, discouraging Armenia to finalise the peace talks. This created an impression for Yerevan as though the processes would return to 30 years ago.
As the head of state emphasized today, Armenia's reluctance to disband the OSCE Minsk Group stems from its hope that time will eventually favor its position.
However, there is optimism for Armenia to put this behavior aside and seal the peace deal. Because at the final stage, every provision for signing peace has been agreed upon, and all that is missing is for Armenia to sign the document. Once the peace agreement is signed, the need for the OSCE Minsk Group and the European Union Mission monitoring the border with binoculars will become obsolete, paving the way for lasting peace in the region.
