noticias.info
Domingo 3 de abril de 2005
OSCE Chairman calls on all sides to focus on ways to resolve
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
/noticias.info/ BAKU, 2 April 2005 – In talks today with Azerbaijani
officials, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij
Rupel, continued to pursue ways of reaching a lasting solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, following similar meetings in Armenia on
Wednesday.
Minister Rupel reaffirmed his conviction that every existing avenue to
accelerate this peace process should be explored to the full: “I encourage
all parties to seek the resolution of this issue through political dialogue.
Any means other than those of a peaceful nature are not part of the OSCE’s
vocabulary”, he said.
He called for the stabilization of the situation along the frontlines. “To
defuse the present tension and start developing confidence between the
sides, ceasefire violations must stop.”
After meeting President Ilham Aliyev, the Chairman-in-Office added: “I would
like to see the year 2005 as a turning-point in the process of resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The personal engagement of the two Presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia is an important milestone on the path to this
objective.
“We hope that the peaceful resolution of the conflict will have the full
support of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh”, he stressed.
The Minister also said the OSCE welcomed the President’s recent decree
pardoning 115 persons, including the majority of those imprisoned in the
aftermath of the 2003 Presidential Election: “We hope that this step, and
the establishment of the Expert Group to look at ways of implementing the
trial monitoring report, will promote civil reconciliation.”
Minister Rupel drew attention to the Post-Election Report by the OSCE Office
for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights: “I hope its recommendations
will be implemented prior to the parliamentary elections due later this
year.”
The OSCE Chairman-in-Office also met the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan,
Arthur Rasizade, Parliamentary Chairman Murtuz Alaskarov, Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov and the Representative of the Azerbaijani Population of
Nagorno-Karabakh, Nizami Bahmanov, as well as representatives of political
parties and local non-governmental organizations.
He emphasized the readiness of the OSCE to continue assisting Azerbaijan in
implementing various reforms, particularly in the fields of anti-corruption
and money-laundering, diversification of the economy, human rights promotion
and protection programmes.
“We hope that the reform process will get a new impetus. Together with
increased efforts to promote freedom of assembly and freedom of the media,
political pluralism in the country can be further strengthened.”
Minister Rupel added that the OSCE would continue to offer its assistance in
the area of judicial reform and underlined the significance of the principle
of a fair trial: “Adoption of the relevant legislative framework should be
followed up by its implementation”, he said.