Turkish Parliament speaker attacks OSCE’s Minsk Group

Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek has harshly criticized the apparent ineffectiveness of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group in resolving the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

On a visit to Azeri soldiers wounded in recent clashes with Armenia and treated at a hospital in Ankara, he stressed that Azeri territories have been under Armenia’s occupation for over two decades, and that over one million Azeris have been displaced and are living in tough circumstances. He said the world was not very aware of this, but also that “those who do know about it don’t do much either.”

“Unfortunately, the world hasn’t shown interest, despite all the trouble that has been ongoing for over 20 years,” Çiçek said.

“A group called the Minsk Group was founded. It gathers once in a year, for a length of time that is only enough for a horse to wag its tail. They just talk and there is nothing they have done so far,” he added.

The Minsk Group has been working since 1992 to mediate the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Its co-chairs are from France, the U.S. and Russia.