ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 29, 2004 Thursday
Russia can play special role in settling Armenian-Azeri conflict
By Yuri Ulyanovsky
STRASBOURG
The co-chairmen of the Minsk group of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for Nagorno-Karabakh, that is
Russia, United States and France, are called upon to play “their
specific role”, Azeri President Ilkham Aliyev said on Thursday. He
spoke at a news conference in the Palace of Europe after addressing
the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe. “We hope that they all will step up their activities in this
direction”, he said.
Russia plays a special role in the framework of the Minsk group,
Aliyev said. This is determined not only by Russia’s geographic
position. Russia has good relations both with Azerbaijan and Armenia,
and Moscow is familiar with the role of a mediator in settling
conflicts.
President Aliyev also counts on the assistance of the PACE and the
Council of Europe in settling the conflict. He said the Political
Commission of the PACE works presently on the report on the
Armenian-Azeri conflict that will documentedly prove Armenia’s status
as a country occupying part of Azeri territory. As a result of the
occupation of part of Azeri territory, which, Aliyev said, is a gross
violation of the norms of international law, the number of refugees
and displaced persons among Azerbaijan’s population of eight million
reached one million which burdens the country’s economy.