ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 5 2004

Azeri presid notes positive changes in OSCE Minsk group work

BAKU, May 5 (Itar-Tass) – Azerbaijani president Ilkham Aliyev has
noted positive changes in the activities of the Minsk Group of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Nagorno
Karabakh.

Aliyev told journalists on Wednesday, `the activity of the Minsk
Group has become noticeable, its co-chairmen are persistently seeking
solution to the problem.’

The Azerbaijani president believes the settlement process is underway
although not very actively.

President Aliyev expressed the hope that the negotiations on the
Karabakh conflict settlement with mediation of the OSCE Group,
co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States, will bring
concrete results.

`If we did not believe in that there would be no sense in conducting
talks,’ the head of Azerbaijan stressed.

He positively assessed meetings held between the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents in Geneva in December 2003 and in Warsaw in April
2004, as well as talks held at the level of the two states’ foreign
ministers.

The next meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia
with participation of co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will be held
in Strasbourg on May 12.

On this day ten days ago the two sides reached an agreement on
ceasefire on the Karabakh conflict zone which is still being
observed.