OSCE press release, 2 April 2005

BAKU, Azerbaijan - 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.