Closure of Minsk Process marks diplomatic milestone for Azerbaijan under President Aliyev - MP

A significant chapter in regional diplomacy has come to a close, as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) officially terminated the activities of its long-standing Minsk Process, a move hailed as a historic diplomatic success for Azerbaijan under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev. The decision follows a joint appeal signed by the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, in the wake of a high-level meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Washington on August 8 — a meeting attended by the President of the United States. As stipulated in the agreement, the OSCE Ministerial Council has decided to formally terminate all activities related to the Minsk Process effective September 1. This includes the dissolution of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and the High-Level Planning Group, along with the revocation of all decisions and documents stemming from the OSCE’s 1992 mandate to convene the Minsk Conference. With this decision, the former Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict has been entirely removed from the OSCE’s agenda, marking the end of its decades-long involvement in the matter.

The announcement was made by Gaya Mammadov, Head of the Azerbaijani Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, in an interview with AZERTAC, Caliber.Az reports.

Mammadov welcomed the decision, calling it a landmark development:

“The fact that the former conflict was resolved within the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty is confirmed by this decision — adopted at the international level by an organization that was originally tasked with resolving the conflict through peaceful means.”

He further emphasized:

“The termination of the Minsk Process also marks the end of a failed diplomatic approach that attempted to bypass international law.”

According to Mammadov, the move paves the way for a more stable and lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, while also contributing to broader security and cooperation across Europe.

By Vafa Guliyeva