Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 25 2005
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OSCE, Pace Should Cooperate In Karabakh Conflict Resolution – Russian
Co-Chair

Baku Today / AssA-Irada 25/09/2005 19:36

The OSCE Minsk Group mediating settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan
Karabakh conflict and the special committee of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) may cooperate on a number of
issues, the MG Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov said.

He was commenting on the hearings on the Karabakh conflict held in
Paris within the PACE committee last week.

`The OSCE MG co-chairs are mediating the talks and presenting
proposals, while PACE may contribute to mobilizing public opinion in
the two countries to achieve the compromise needed for the conflict
resolution. It may also be actively involved in ensuring
implementation of commitments that the sides assumed upon admission
to the Council of Europe, with a pivotal obligation being the
peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.’

Merzlyakov stated that CE and PACE may take up `control over every
ceasefire violation and influence the sides to honor their
commitments’.

`The belligerent statements that sound every now then and calls for
settling the conflict with the use of force certainly do not promote
conflict resolution…We are ready to share our credentials with PACE
to ensure such statements are not made any longer.’

Merzlyakov said the mediators are concerned over the growing military
budgets of Azerbaijan and Armenia, which `may affect the process of
implementing their commitments on the peace conflict settlement’.