US Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick has de facto recognized the presence of a state border between the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan, David Babayan, Spokesman of Nagorno-Karabakh's President, told ArmInfo on Friday.
On Thursday Warlick said in Twitter: "To be clear, there is no 'neutral' territory in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. But there is a 'no man's land' separating military forces." Babayan notes that "no man's land" and "neutral zone" are the same things. "Almost all states have neutral zones along their borders. So, in this context, this was de facto recognition of the fact that there is a state border between the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan, which is true," Babayan said.
Concerning the efficient of the OSCE Minsk Group's efforts to get access to the crash site of the Armenian helicopter shot down by Azeris, Babayan said that both the MG and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office are actively working to this end. "I am not just sure, I am aware that they are dealing with this problem," he said. Meanwhile, many experts and politicians have slated the MG of late for its inaction to return the bodies of the shot-down crew.
To remind, the Azeri armed forces downed an Armenian Mi-24 while it was conducting a training flight near the Line on Contact on 12 November. Three officers of the NKR Armed Forces, Sergey Sahakyan, Sargis Nazaryan and Azat Sahakyan, were on board. The NKR State Committee for POWs, Captives and the Missing has requested the ICRC assistance in returning the crewmembers of the downed helicopter. The Azeri officer that shot the helicopter down has been awarded a medal.
The Armenians are still able to find out what has happened to the crew because the Azeris keep firing at the site. Nor have they given any security guarantees to OSCE observers wishing to monitor the area.