OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIR DISCUSSES KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 11 2006

BAKU, April 11 (Itar-Tass) – French co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group
(MG) for Nagorno Karabakh Bernard Fassier said at a press conference
here on Tuesday that consultations held with the leadership of
Azerbaijan and Armenia on the Karabakh conflict settlement should
“help form the basic principles of the future peace agreement.”

The diplomat stressed that the work of international mediators will be
very intensive in the short run and said that after him the American
and Russian co-chairmen of the MG – Steven Mann and Yuri Merzlyakov
will visit the region. Fassier also did not rule out that he might
visit Baku and Yerevan again in late April.

“In May the co-chairmen will again visit the region in order to
prepare a meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia,”
said Fassier. “The dates of the meeting between the two countries’
leaders have not been coordinated yet, but I hope that they will agree
to hold them. New principles of the settlement are to be presented
to the heads of Azerbaijan and Armenia this week,” Fassier pointed out.

According to the official, these principles “contain variants that are
50 or even 80 percent meeting the interests of the sides.” He said
the current stage is a “continuation and modification of the Prague
process” that had been launched in the Czech capital two years ago
by the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers with the mediation
of the MG co-chairmen.

Fassier expressed regret over the fact that the work carried out by
the MG co-chairmen in 2005 has failed to bring the desired results,
although the settlements principles were determined. “In Rambouillet
(a Paris suburb where the last meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
Presidents Ilkham Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan was held on February
10-11, 2006) we tried to increase the results but unfortunately the
sides failed to reach agreement. However, we are glad that this did
not disrupted the negotiations and they are continuing,” the MG French
co-chairman said.

Fassier expressed concern over the aggravation of the situation
regarding the sides’ standoff recently saying that “the resumption
of the war will only aggravate it (the situation) and may result in
a crisis.”

After Baku Fassier is planning to visit Yerevan.

According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, issues related to the
Karabakh problem settlement will be high on the agenda of consultations
of the American co-chairman of the Minsk Group, Steven Mann in Baku on
April 18. Mann is expected to discuss with the Azerbaijani leadership
certain proposals of the American side on the conflict settlement.

“These proposals are very interesting. Official Baku will study them
and express its view during Mann’s visit,” the Azerbaijani foreign
minister said in an interview to the AzerTaj state news agency. In his
view, the Karabakh conflict is the “largest obstacle to the political
and economic development of Azerbaijan and it is necessary to intensify
efforts in this sphere.”