OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE: «I WOULD LIKE TO SEE 2005 AS A TURNING-POINT IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT»

PanARMENIAN.Net - In talks today with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, continued to pursue ways of reaching a lasting solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. According to a press release of the OSCE Office in Baku, the Chairman-in-Office reaffirmed his conviction that every existing avenue to accelerate this peace process should be explored to the full. "I encourage all parties to seek the resolution of this issue through political dialogue. Any means other than those of a peaceful nature are not part of the OSCE's vocabulary," Rupel said. He called for the stabilization of the situation along the frontlines. "To defuse the present tension and start developing confidence between the sides, cease-fire violations must stop." "I would like to see the year 2005 as a turning-point in the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The personal engagement of the two Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia is an important milestone on the path to this objective." "We hope that the peaceful resolution of the conflict will have the full support of the community of Nagorno-Karabakh", he stressed.