Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are interested in changing the status quo in the Nagorny Karabakh peace process, Edward Nalbandian, Foreign Minister of Armenia, said at a joint news conference with his Swedish opposite number Margot Wallstrom in Yerevan on February 9. The statement came in response to Baku's allegations against Armenia and the OSCE MG co-chairs saying that they allegedly do not want to change the status quo.
"Azerbaijan is responsible for the current situation with the status quo. To change it, negotiations and agreements are needed. Azerbaijan escalates the situation, fails to respond to the mediators' calls to reaffirm its commitment to the peaceful resolution of the conflict, as well as refuses to create mechanisms to inquire into incidents," Minister Nalbandian said. In this light, he said, Azerbaijan claims that mechanisms to inquire into the incidents on the Line of Contact will strengthen the status quo. Meantime, the minister said, these mechanisms will, in fact, help investigate the incidents and create more favorable conditions for the peace talks.
"We hope Azerbaijan will finally understand that its behavior brings no benefits to it, quite the contrary. So far, together with the co-chairs we will continue our efforts towards the peaceful resolution of the conflict," he said.
Speaking of the allegations against the mediators, the minister said Baku regularly makes statements that run contrary to the international dialogue. "They call the co-chairs tourists. They make Islamophobia allegations against them. Baku says that U.S. is the home for corruption. The list of their statements is much longer," he said.
"It is surprising that Baku does not learn lessons from its statements that have reverse effects," he said.