Recommendations

There is an urgent need for constructive intervention by the international community, if this tragic conflict is not to escalate further, causing even more suffering to both sides.

There is also a danger that it could spread beyond the immediate arena of war to become a regional conflagration. Already, Azerbaijan is maintaining frequent attacks on Armenian villages in Armenia itself, with many casualties. In some of these, non-Armenian civilians, such as Russians, have been killed and injured.

Recently, the leaders of both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh have requested an unconditional ceasefire. Azerbaijan, backed by its ally Turkey, has rejected the suggestion, insisting on a withdrawal of all defense forces from Nagorno Karabakh. This is clearly unrealistic, given the sustained attacks on the enclave, and the perceived need for the people of Nagorno Karabakh to maintain defense for survival.

The CSCE initiatives have so far proved ineffective in achieving the necessary confidence-building measures to enable the parties to the conflict to agree to a cessation of hostilities. Given the intensity of the conflict and the resulting loss of any kind of trust, the international community will have to work hard to devise sufficient confidence-building measures to achieve a credible cease-fire.

There is an urgent need for systematic humanitarian aid to be made available to meet the needs of all those suffering from the war, and especially the needs of the population of Nagorno Karabakh and refugees and deportees in Armenia.