Today, Azerbaijan
May 28 2005

French co-chairman of the Minsk Group of OSCE Bernard Fassier held a
press-conference

28 May 2005 [17:31] – Today.Az

The French co-chairman of the Minsk Group of OSCE held a
press-conference in the embassy of France in Azerbaijan.

He called opening of the Azerbaijani part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
main export pipeline an important historical event. Fassier speaking
about his activity as the co-chairman informed that the negotiations
process on regulating the Upper Garabagh conflict had intensified
since January. He valued positively the meeting of the Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan taken place
in Warsaw.

“This meeting was a step taken forward. Both sides realize that it is
necessary to sign a peace treaty. The details of the negotiations are
being kept in secret in accordance with the request of the sides for
the time being. However, the main details can be announced. The
dialogue process is held on the problems of withdrawing the armies
from the regions around Nagorno Karabakh and the status to be given
to Nagorno Karabakh in future”.

Bernard Fassier also brought into the consideration of the media
representatives that he had met with the foreign affairs minister
Elmar Mammedyarov and the president Ilham Aliyev in Baku.

The French co-chairman said that a comprehensive exchange of views
had been held in the direction of solving the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict in both meetings. The visit of the co-chairmen to Armenia is
planned to take place at the end of June. Bernard Fassier informed
that they would meet with the foreign affairs minister of Armenia
Vardan Oskanyan in the frame of the visit but he did not say exactly
whether the meeting with the president Robert Kocharyan would be
held.

According to the plan of the co-chairmen, the next meeting of the
Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign affairs ministers must take place in
the middle of June. After that meeting, the co-chairmen will visit
Baku, Yerevan and Nagorno Karabakh at the end of June.

Bernard Fassier said that the ceasefire regime was not only disturbed
by the Armenian side. “The co-chairmen gave a declaration about
disturbing of the ceasefire in April. I declare once again that
durable disturbing of the ceasefire threatens the piece negotiations
and results in unnecessary losses including human losses”.

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