OSCE Chairperson-in-Office holds talks in Azerbaijan

BAKU, 18 July 2000 - In her meetings today with the Azerbaijani leadership, Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE, Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, emphasised the OSCE's steady commitment to facilitating a long-lasting peace settlement to the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

She expressed her satisfaction that serious efforts by both sides had been made to revive the negotiating process. She called on the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to "take the courageous steps necessary to settle the conflict now, as the final responsibility and the power of decision remains with the two Presidents." In particular, she was encouraged by the renewal of bilateral talks between Presidents Aliyev and Kocharyan. She emphasised the importance at the present stage of adopting the small but significant confidence-building measures proposed by the OSCE in the economic and military fields. Ms. Ferrero-Waldner said that the release yesterday of prisoners of war held in Nagorno-Karabakh and Yerevan were important gestures toward reconciliation. Her Personal Representative on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, witnessed the arrival of the six POWs at Baku airport this morning.

The OSCE Chariperson-in-Office also presided over a ribbon cutting cremony today opening the OSCE Office in Baku. She was pleased by the assurances of the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, who also took part in the opening, of Azeri support for the activities of the OSCE Office and its Head, Ambassador Alexander Cornelissen. The Office will focus on democracy building and human rights, and explore other activities including in the economic field.

In her meetings with the Azerbaijani leadership, Ms. Ferrero-Waldner welcomed the adoption by Azerbaijan's parliament of a new law on the Central Election Commission, which was in line with the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) recommendations. She expressed her hope, however, that the shortcomings cited by the ODHIR in the parliamentary election law would be rectified in due time before the November elections. During her meetings, she also raised such human rights concerns as the question of political prisoners and media freedoms. She demonstrated the OSCE's particular concern for the situation of victims of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during a visit to refugees and displaced persons.

For further information contact the Press and Public Information Section of the OSCE Secretariat, tel.: (+ 43-1) 514 36 180 or e-mail: info@osce.org