OSCE Minsk Group Fact-Finding Mission visits occupied regions of Azerbaijan

VIENNA, 10 February 2005 - An OSCE Minsk Group Fact-Finding Mission visited the seven occupied regions of Azerbaijan around Nagorno-Karabakh from 31 January to 6 February 2005 to examine the question of Armenian settlements in these territories.

The Mission, which was conducted following an agreement between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, will report its findings to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, who in turn will forward it with their conclusions and recommendations to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.

The Mission was led by Emily Haber, Head of the OSCE Department of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and composed of representatives of the three co-chair countries - the Russian Federation, the United States and France - and of Finland, Germany, Italy and Sweden.

The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and a representative of the OSCE Secretariat also took part.