OSCE Special Envoy meets provisional administration in Kyrgyzstan, discusses ways to urgently restore stability

BISHKEK, 9 April 2010 - The Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Zhanybek Karibzhanov met with interim Kyrgyz Deputy Foreign Minister Nurlan Aytmurzaev today to discuss the situation in the country and the co-ordination of activities to restore stability.

Karibzhanov said at the meeting: "I came to Bishkek the same day I was appointed OSCE Special Envoy. I plan to discuss with my interlocutors the situation on the ground, how public safety, stability and respect for citizens' rights can be urgently restored and ensured, and how we in the OSCE can contribute to the process."

He expressed support for measures that have already been taken to restore stability and stressed the importance of continuing on this path.

"The OSCE stands ready to support every effort in this direction, as necessary and required. Maintaining the co-operation that has been achieved between Kyrgyzstan and the OSCE is an important priority," he said.

Karibzhanov is Deputy Speaker of the Majilis (lower house of Parliament) of Kazakhstan, Chairman of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz interparliamentary group and has the rank of Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. He was appointed Special Envoy by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan's Secretary of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Saudabayev, on 8 April. Kazakhstan holds the 2010 OSCE Chairmanship.

Ambassador Herbert Salber, the Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre in Vienna, is supporting him on the trip to Kyrgyzstan.