OSCE
April 2 2005

OSCE Chairman calls on all sides to focus on ways to resolve
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

BAKU, 2 April 2005 – In talks today with Azerbaijani officials, the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel,
continued to pursue ways of reaching a lasting solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, following similar meetings in Armenia on
Wednesday.

Minister Rupel reaffirmed his conviction that every existing avenue
to accelerate this peace process should be explored to the full: “I
encourage all parties to seek the resolution of this issue through
political dialogue. Any means other than those of a peaceful nature
are not part of the OSCE’s vocabulary”, he said.

He called for the stabilization of the situation along the
frontlines. “To defuse the present tension and start developing
confidence between the sides, ceasefire violations must stop.”

After meeting President Ilham Aliyev, the Chairman-in-Office added:
“I would like to see the year 2005 as a turning-point in the process
of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The personal engagement
of the two Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia is an important
milestone on the path to this objective.

“We hope that the peaceful resolution of the conflict will have the
full support of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh”, he
stressed.

The Minister also said the OSCE welcomed the President’s recent
decree pardoning 115 persons, including the majority of those
imprisoned in the aftermath of the 2003 Presidential Election: “We
hope that this step, and the establishment of the Expert Group to
look at ways of implementing the trial monitoring report, will
promote civil reconciliation.”

Minister Rupel drew attention to the Post-Election Report by the OSCE
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights: “I hope its
recommendations will be implemented prior to the parliamentary
elections due later this year.”

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office also met the Prime Minister of
Azerbaijan, Arthur Rasizade, Parliamentary Chairman Murtuz Alaskarov,
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and the Representative of the
Azerbaijani Population of Nagorno-Karabakh, Nizami Bahmanov, as well
as representatives of political parties and local non-governmental
organizations.

He emphasized the readiness of the OSCE to continue assisting
Azerbaijan in implementing various reforms, particularly in the
fields of anti-corruption and money-laundering, diversification of
the economy, human rights promotion and protection programmes.

“We hope that the reform process will get a new impetus. Together
with increased efforts to promote freedom of assembly and freedom of
the media, political pluralism in the country can be further
strengthened.”

Minister Rupel added that the OSCE would continue to offer its
assistance in the area of judicial reform and underlined the
significance of the principle of a fair trial: “Adoption of the
relevant legislative framework should be followed up by its
implementation”, he said.

For further information, please contact:

Keith Jinks
Deputy Head
Press and Public Information Section
OSCE Secretariat
Kaerntner Ring 5-7
1010, Vienna
Austria

Tel.: +43 664 544 62 07 (mobile)
+43 1 514 36 180
+43 676 939 62 22 (mobile)

Fax: +43 1 514 36 105

E-mail: keith.jinks@osce.org
press@osce.org