OSCE PA President: Cooperation between parliaments to promote settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou will visit Azerbaijan and Armenia this week. A major goal of his visit is to enhance co-operation with the Parliament in each country and support their progress and development.

"My visit to Baku and Yerevan comes in the context of a series of visits I am paying to areas with protracted conflicts aimed at contributing a parliamentary perspective to conflict resolution processes," Efthymiou told Trend in an interview.

Efthymiou will arrive on a two-day visit to Baku on 12 May, after he holds meetings in Yerevan on May 9-11. This is Efthymiou's first visit to the region as the OSCE PA President.

"The Azerbaijani delegation to the OSCE PA plays an important and constructive role in the Assembly, thus I am pleased to have this opportunity to visit Baku," he said.

Efthymiou said he looks forward to meeting with presidents, foreign ministers, government- and opposition representatives, parliamentarians and civil society members across the region.
Also there are plans to meet with the OSCE Offices in Baku and Yerevan to discuss the recent developments in the region, as well as OSCE PA priorities.

"I look forward to the day when we have a peaceful resolution to long-standing conflicts, so that all sides can devote their full energy to shared progress and prosperity," said Efthymiou.
Efthymiou considers finding peaceful and lasting solutions to the protracted conflicts, including on Nagorno-Karabakh, one of the most important priorities of the OSCE.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Efthymiou said the Chairman-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Audronius Ažubalis, has been fully engaged on this topic, and the Minsk Group co-Chairs continue to actively work towards an acceptable solution.

Efthymiou said he would like to pay tribute to the personal involvement of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to promote the peace process.

"However, the prime responsibility lies with the Presidents and Governments of the countries involved, and it takes political will-power and courage to reach a solution," he said.

Efthymiou also mentioned important role of parliamentary cooperation in resolving the conflict situation.

"The OSCE PA is not directly involved in the negotiations, but we seek to promote parliamentary dialogue about the conflict and its consequences in order to support the negotiations, he said. Parliamentarians have a very important role to play when it comes to informing the general public and making a solution acceptable".

The OSCE PA is also working to provide assistance to Azerbaijani refugees, victims of the conflict.

"Most recently, at the last Annual Session in Oslo [in July 2010], the Assembly adopted a resolution on the right of refugees and IDPs to return to their place of origin. Although this resolution concerns Georgia specifically, the same principles apply to the situation in the whole South Caucasus region," Efthymiou said.


/Trend/