OSCE Chairperson calls for calm in southern Kyrgyzstan

ASTANA, May 19, 2010 - The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan's Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, expressed deep concern today about the tragic events in Kyrgyzstan's southern Jalal-Abad region, which again led to casualties.

Saudabayev made the following statement:

"I urge all parties to refrain from violence, to do everything possible to avoid further confrontation and to solve problems on a basis of tolerance and compromise. Conflicts on ethnic grounds are especially unacceptable. Overcoming the crisis in Kyrgyzstan requires that public safety, rule of law, peace and stability be ensured.

Kazakhstan's OSCE Chairmanship has made every effort to help Kyrgyzstan resolve its crisis since it began. Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, taking into account the difficult socio-economic situation in Kyrgyzstan, has decided that the temporary restrictions on the Kazakh-Kyrgyz state border that were introduced on 6 April because of the crisis shall be lifted as of tomorrow, 20 May.

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek actively participates in solving problems both in the north and in the south and is constantly monitoring the situation.

In addition to myself, OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Joao Soares, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek and other OSCE officials have visited Kyrgyzstan recently to provide assistance in settling the situation in the country.

In a telephone conversation today with the head of Kyrgyzstan's interim government, Roza Otunbayeva, I expressed our concern about the continued unrest and reiterated the readiness of the OSCE, its Centre in Bishkek and its institutions to provide support to Kyrgyzstan in overcoming the crisis as soon as possible, and to support the country's further constitutional development."