Armenian Speaker, senior OSCE officials discuss Karabakh, regional security

Noyan Tapan news agency
28 Feb 05

Yerevan, 28 February: Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Artur
Bagdasaryan met OSCE Secretary- General Jan Kubis on 25 February.

In the light of democratic developments in Armenia, Jan Kubis
pointed to the importance of constitutional and electoral reforms
and promised the OSCE’s support in this issue. He also outlined the
reforms to be carried out in the OSCE, and the Armenian speaker said
Armenia supported any reforms that would make the work of the OSCE
more effective.

At Kubis’s request, the chairman of the Armenian National Assembly also
touched on the Nagornyy Karabakh issue, saying that Armenia stands for
a negotiated settlement of the conflict and wants the conflict to be
resolved within the OSCE framework because this organization has the
best understanding of the history and peculiarities of the issue. The
sides pointed to the importance of meetings and negotiations between
the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents and to the involvement of
the NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh Republic] in the negotiating process.

During a meeting with the chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,
Alcee Hastings, the sides discussed issues related to security
and cooperation in the South Caucasus region. The sides stressed
the importance of democratic reforms and European integration and
pointed to the implementation of specific programmes between the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Armenian National Assembly in
three areas: permanent OSCE support for Armenia’s legislative reform,
exchange of experience and information for the benefit of standing
commissions of the National Assembly and its administrative staff,
and conducting an international parliamentary conference under
the auspices of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to mark the 15th
anniversary of the Armenian parliament.

[Passage omitted: Bagdasaryan’s other meetings on the sidelines of
the visit to Austria]