Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
March 10 2006

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to meet in Istanbul on 20 March

[ 10 Mar. 2006 17:43 ]

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Steven Mann (US), Yuri Merzlyakov
(Russia), Bernar Fasie (France) and Andrzey Kasprzyk, personal
representative of OSCE-chairman-in-office will hold their next
meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on 20 March.

The US Embassy in Azerbaijan informed APA that it will be the
co-chairs’ second meeting in March. On March 6-8, they analyzed the
negotiations held between Azerbaijan’s and Armenia’s Presidents in
Rambouillet. The co-chairs were expected to offer new suggestions to
the Foreign Ministers. However, neither the co-chairs’ meeting nor
their suggestions to the Ministers is made public.
Russian Foreign Ministry group for Nagorno Garabagh told APA that
Russian co-chair is in Washington. The American co-chair Steven Mann
and Assistant US Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
Daniel Fried will visit Baku on 13 March.
After their meeting, the co-chairs traditionally visit the
region-Azerbaijan and Armenia to familiarize with the opinions of
these states, and they meet again to discuss these issues. This
tradition seems to have been broken this time. Either the co-chairmen
have not offered any suggestions to the Foreign Ministers after the
Washington meeting or they have received replies and therefore, they
meet to analyze them.
The co-chairs said that the date of their visit to the region will
depend on the sides’ positions and preparation./APA/