ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
January 27, 2005 Thursday 12:05 PM Eastern Time

Minsk OSCE group to promote progress in Karabakh settlement

By Sevindzh Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman

BAKU

The intensification of the activity of the Minsk OSCE group for
Nagorno Karabakh and the continued negotiations between the foreign
ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia give hope for achieving progress
in the Karabakh conflict settlement, Azerbaijani President Ilkham
Aliyev said at a meeting with new co-chairman of the Minsk OSCE group
from France Bernard Fassier here on Thursday, Azerbaijani state news
agency AzerTAdzh reports.

Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan joint the UN within the borders that
include Nagorno Karabakh and seven Azerbaijani border regions that
were occupied by Armenian forces. Azerbaijan’s position in the
conflict settlement remains unchanged, the president emphasized. This
position is based on the principles of territorial integrity and
inviolability of borders. “The conflict settlement is impossible
without the observance of these principles,” Aliyev pointed out.

According to Fassier, the unsettled Karabakh problem “inflicts great
damage to the cause of maintaining peace and stability not only in
the South Caucasus but also in the whole region, hampers the
implementation of large-scale economic projects on the broad space
including Middle Asia.”

The French diplomat together with his Russian and US colleagues is
included in the UN special mission that is investigating the facts of
resettling the Armenians to the occupied Azerbaijani territories. The
mission will begin working in the conflict region on January 28.
Representatives of other member-countries of the Minsk OSCE group –
Finland, Sweden, Germany and Italy are also included in the mission.