Interfax
July 1 2004
PACE to assist in Karabakh settlement
Baku. (Interfax-Azerbaijan) – The Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE) will assist the settlement of the Nagorno-
Karabakh conflict.
The Parliamentary Assembly can and wants to assist in resolving the
conflict, although the OSCE Minsk Group is already doing so, PACE
Secretary General Bruno Haller said after Thursday negotiations with
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov.
He said that PACE will not substitute for the OSCE in the Karabakh
settlement process.
Haller lauded his negotiations with the Azerbaijani foreign minister,
which focused on stronger inter-parliamentary cooperation between
Baku and Strasbourg and PACE’s role in the Karabakh settlement
process.
Baku lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjoining districts
during its conflict with Armenia in the 1990s. The UN Security
Council has denounced the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and
demanded the withdrawal of Armenian military units.
The U.S., Russian and French co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group are
assisting the Karabakh settlement.