OSCE rep says Azerbaijan, Armenia concerned about frequent truce violation
Ekspress, Baku,
29 Oct 04
Text of report by Alakbar Raufoglu in Azerbaijani newspaper Ekspress
on 29 October headlined “Who opens fire?” and subheaded “For the time
being, Kasprzyk cannot find culprits”
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has asked the OSCE chairman-in-office
Solomon Pasi that the OSCE’s special mission express its attitude
to the situation on the front line between the Azerbaijani and
Armenian armed forces, the personal representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, told Ekspress newspaper
yesterday. He said that the conflicting countries “are seriously
concerned” about frequent cease-fire violations over the past several
weeks.
The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group are also concerned about
the tension. “The situation is clear: attempts are being made to
violate the cease-fire during the “time out” taken in the talks, but
there is a need to put an end to this. All this also casts doubt on
the OSCE’s mediation mission,” Kasprzyk said.
Kasprzyk is preparing a report on the situation on the front line. He
said that reports on the situation by the co-chairmen are mainly
based on information provided by his mission.
“However, our investigation has not yielded any specific results
on which side violates the cease-fire , and, in fact, there is no
special situation. Both sides are observing the cease-fire with great
responsibility. There have always been some cases of instability
which are not ruled out in the future either,” he added.
Kasprzyk also said that cooperation on the issue was continued with
the envoys of the co-chairing countries in Yerevan and Baku, adding
that his report would be submitted to the mediators in the near future.
“Anyway, no-one can justify attempts to disrupt stability. Tension
on the front line can have a negative impact on the efforts to come
to compromises at the peace talks,” Kasprzyk said.
Incidentally, another OSCE monitoring was held yesterday on the
contact line between the Azerbaijani and Armenian armed forces in
the village of Balacafarli of Qazax District northwestern Azerbaijan
. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry press service reports that the
monitoring held by representatives of the OSCE and local executive
bodies passed off without incidents.