LORD RUSSELL JOHNSTON TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA

Trend News Agency
Jan 24 2008
Azerbaijan

France, Strasbourg, 24 January / corr. Trend A. Maharramli/ Lord
Russell Johnston, the head of the sub-committee on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
will pay a visit Armenia and Azerbaijan in the first half of February.

"I am planning to visit Baku on 8 February, and later Armenia to
observe the presidential election," Lord Johnston said Trend on
24 January.

The Sub-committee on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe was established in spring of 2005 as
a body exercising control over the implementation of the Resolution
(Resolution 1416) of the organization on the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict.

The agenda of the meetings have already been coordinated with the
presidents and parliament chairmen of both countries. He is expected
to hold meetings with the leaders of the political parties. Though
the election period is not suitable to discuss the regulation of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict I am planning to discuss these issues with
the leaders of the both countries, he said.

Lord rejects the statements that the sub-committee was established
to regulate Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. "We do not deal with
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it is the OSCE Minsk group who tries
to solve the conflict," Johnston said. Our task is to improve the
relations between parliamentarians, especially to let them to hold
negotiations instead of accusing each-other. I want to make sure that
the leaders of both countries consider our work useful," Lord said.

Johnston’s visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan was scheduled for November,
but was postponed due to the non-agreement of the agenda between
the parties.