Azerbaijani Foreign Minister addresses OSCE Permanent Council

VIENNA, 14 May 2013 – The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, addressed representatives of the 57 OSCE participating States today in Vienna.

Outlining his country’s support for the OSCE as a platform for addressing security threats and its historic success in forging consensus between diverse states, he urged states to use the ongoing Helsinki+40 process to strengthen the OSCE as an “action-oriented organization” in the run up to the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act in 2015.

Mammadyarov said that the Organization’s “comparative advantage lies in its comprehensive security concept” and stressed its role in enhancing security for countries not part of other security groupings.

Calling for wider discussion within the OSCE on protracted conflicts, including on Nagorno Karabakh, he said: “Azerbaijan believes the potential for reaching peace on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is not exhausted.” He said that there was a need to “reinvigorate” the Minsk Group format, urging “more substantive talks, not just talks for talks.”

Addressing the OSCE’s work in Azerbaijan, Mammadyarov stated his country’s intention to invite international monitoring teams to observe the upcoming presidential election, in line with OSCE commitments. He also reiterated Azerbaijan’s desire to review the status of the OSCE presence in the country, suggesting that its work could be refocused on project coordination.

Mammadyarov was speaking at a special session of the OSCE Permanent Council. He previously addressed the Permanent Council in 2004.