RIA Novosti, Russia
Jan 31 2005

KARABAKH LEADER RECEIVES OSCE DELEGATION

YEREVAN, January 31 (RIA Novosti’s Gamlet Matevosyan) – Arkady
Gukasyan, the leader of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorny
Karabakh, received a delegation of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in his headquarters on Monday. The
delegates included the three cochairmen of the Minsk Group for the
Karabakh settlement-Yuri Merzlyakov, of Russia, Steve Mann, of the
United States, and Bernard Fassier, of France-as well as members of
the fact-finding team set up to verify Azerbaijan’s allegations that
Armenian authorities continue the settlement of “occupied Azeri
territories.”

In an interview with RIA Novosti, presidential spokespeople quoted
Mr. Gukasyan as saying that the OSCE decision to visit territories
presently under Karabakh control was a highly important one.
According to him, Karabakh authorities suggested the idea on more
than occasion in the past.

Speaking of the current situation in the Karabakh-administered
territories under OSCE monitoring, Mr. Gukasyan said his government
had no program of settling those areas. According to him, government
activity here is limited to the creation of decent living conditions
for the population and the establishment of proper control.

In order to get a fuller picture of the situation in the conflict
zone, the Karabakh leader suggested that the OSCE mission should also
visit Karabakh territories now being control by the Azeri military.

OSCE Conflict Prevention Commissioner Emily Haber, who heads the
fact-finding team, thanked the Karabakh leadership for creating
favorable conditions for her team’s work. She said the mission was
intended for a ten days’ period and that it was more technical than
political in nature.

Today, the OSCE fact-finding team is beginning to monitor the seven
Karabakh-administered regions that constitute what is known as the
security belt around the self-proclaimed republic. The aim is to find
out whether Azerbaijan has any grounds to accuse Armenia of illegally
settling these territories.