AZERI OFFICIAL URGES GREATER RUSSIAN EFFORTS TO RESOLVE KARABAKH CONFLICT

Azad Azarbaycan TV
March 23 2009
Baku

A senior Azerbaijani official has urged Russia to step up efforts to
resolve the territorial dispute between his country and Armenia.

In his remarks to the Baku-based Azad Azarbaycan TV, Deputy Foreign
Minister Xalaf Xalafov also called on other international mediators to
step up efforts towards a peaceful solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict.

He said that the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, which
mediates a solution to the conflict, "should play a greater role to
show that… there are no movements or activities creating tension
and negatively impacting peace here in the region." "We expect these
actions from our neighbour Russia, too. We expect it, as a Minsk
Group co-chair, to increase its efforts as a reliable mediator… in
the resolution of this conflict."