OSCE
Sept 24 2004

OSCE Chairman-in-Office meets President of Azerbaijan

OSCE Chairman-in-Office Solomon Passy (left) and Azerbaijan’s
President Ilham Aliyev during an earlier meeting in Baku, 16 March
2004. (Photo OSCE)

NEW YORK, 24 September 2004 – The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian
Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, discussed the role of the
Organization in finding a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in New York on Thursday.

The Azerbaijani Head of State expressed gratitude to Minister Passy
for the efforts of his Special Envoy, former Bulgarian Prime Minister
Philip Dimitrov, to bring added impetus to the peace process for the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabkah conflict.

The Azerbaijani President welcomed the active commitments of the OSCE
with regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and expressed readiness
to carry on active co-operation with representatives of the
Organization.

The President said the OSCE and the Azerbaijani authorities
occasionally took differing views of political developments in the
country but added: “We are open for any kind of conversations. We
realise that a lot in our country has to change and we are ready for
constant direct dialogue.”

The Chairman-in-Office briefed President Aliyev on the Bulgarian
Chairmanship’s proposals for reforms in the OSCE, including the
possibility of shifting the Human Dimension Implementation meeting
from Warsaw to the southern Caucasus.

President Aliyev welcomed the idea that Georgia, Azerbaijan and
Armenia could take turns to host the meeting.