CO-CHAIRS GIVE INFORMATION ABOUT RECENT STATE ON SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT IN OSCE STANDING COMMITTEE

Azeri Press Agency
Nov 6 2008
Azerbaijan

Vienna. Viktoriya Dementyeva – APA. OSCE Standing Committee held a
meeting in Vienna.

APA reports that the meeting was held with the participation of
OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Finland Alexander
Stubb.The Minsk Group co-chairs made speeches on Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. Addressing the meeting American co-chair of OSCE Minsk
Group Matthew Bryza said they met with Azerbaijani and Armenian
leaders during their visit to the region in September.

"We heard the same view in Baku, Yerevan and Nagorno Karabakh – a new
window has been opened in the settlement of the conflict and it would
be a significant event to sign an agreement on the core principles,"
he said.

Matthew Bryza underlined that the happenings in Georgia accelerated
the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"All agreed that the August developments in Georgia were a
kind of warning to the war and instability might spread in the
region. Turkey-Armenia negotiations showed that normalization of the
relations in the region can be the basis of stability and prosperity
in the region," he said.

Matthew Bryza regarded the joint Declaration signed by Azerbaijani
and Armenian Presidents on Nagorno Karabakh conflict as a significant
event.

"This document calls on the Foreign Ministers in collaboration
with OSCE Minsk Group to increase efforts for the settlement of
the conflict basing on Madrid principles. The sides also note the
importance of forming the atmosphere of mutual confidence in order
to achieve a balanced decision. We will continue our efforts for
reaching an understanding. We are grateful to our Russian colleagues
for organizing the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents,"
he said.

Russian Co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov said important events happened in
the South Caucasus, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, after his report
in OSCE Standing Committee a year before.

"These developments had an influence on the settlement of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict and mediating activity of Minsk Group co-chairs. We
informed Minsk Group members about the process of settlement, joint
activity and our plans every three months. Reviewing last year’s work
chronologically we can point out the meeting held in Madrid late in
November. Earlier the co-chairs announced that the proposals were not
ultimatums. They can be assessed as formulas on the settlement of the
conflict or the co-chairs’ proposals on core principles that cause
divergence between the parties. After a year has passed since the
Madrid proposals were put forward, the co-chairs are sure that this
step has turned the core principles of the conflict into the subject
of the negotiations, and the proposals comprising all the elements
of the balanced compromise of Moscow, Washington and Paris," he said.

French Co-chair Bernard Fassier outlined the chronology of the work
done within the past year and said the co-chairs met with Foreign
Ministers in Moscow in August and prepared a plan for autumn.

"I want to reiterate that unlike the previous years, the elections
held in 2008 did not bring the negotiations on the settlement of
Nagorno Karabakh conflict to a deadlock. Much work has been done for
the realization of Madrid principles this year," he said.

The co-chairs plan to visit the region in mid-November.