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Slovene Foreign Minister Pleased With Progress In Nagornyy KarabakhT

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  • Slovene Foreign Minister Pleased With Progress In Nagornyy KarabakhT

    SLOVENE FOREIGN MINISTER PLEASED WITH PROGRESS IN NAGORNYY KARABAKH TALKS

    STA news agency, Ljubljana
    5 Sep 05

    Baku, 5 September: Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, the OSCE
    chairman-in-office, said he was satisfied with the progress in the
    talks on a resolution on Nagornyy Karabakh as he visited Azerbaijan
    on Monday [5 September].

    Speaking to the press after meeting Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov
    in Baku - the first stop of his two-day tour of Azerbaijan and Armenia
    - Rupel called on Azerbaijan to keep striving for a solution to the
    conflict with Armenia in spite of the current election campaign.

    Because of the 6 November parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan,
    it is difficult to assess how the talks will progress, he said.

    The Slovene foreign minister expects the two countries to continue
    their dialogue on the matter, although he admitted that "it is clear
    that serious open issues remain".

    The two sides agree on matters in principle, but a lot is open in
    terms of the technical nature of the solution, he said.

    Rupel also held talks with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, who briefed
    him of the talks he held with Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharyan
    on 27 August in Russia. Moreover, he met Azeri PM Artur Rasizada.

    The Nagornyy Karabakh "is a long story with many components", Rupel
    stressed, adding that he doubted a solution could be reached during
    Slovenia's stint as OSCE president.

    There is concern in the international community that the forthcoming
    elections might derail the progress in the Nagornyy Karabakh talks,
    as the conflict could become a tool for internal political purposes.

    However, Mammadyarov downplayed the possibility of the conflict
    becoming hostage to political campaigning in Azerbaijan. The
    negotiations are continuing, however, the issue is so complex that
    a solution cannot be reached in just a few days, he told the press.

    [Passage omitted - background]

    Meanwhile, the upcoming parliamentary elections figured highly in
    Rupel's talks with Azeri opposition officials and representatives of
    NGOs, who presented their concerns regarding the elections.

    According to Leila Yunus from the NGO Institute for Peace and
    Democracy, non-governmental organizations have been barred from
    overseeing the elections, which she believes is a sign that the
    government does not want the poll to be free and fair.

    Rupel said it was not the OSCE's task to criticise but to offer
    advice on elections to participating states. He added that he hoped
    that certain problems regarding election teams and electoral rolls
    would be resolved ahead of the poll.

    Meanwhile, Mammadyarov said he was convinced the elections would
    be free and fair. Admitting that Azerbaijan could not achieve
    Western-styled democracy overnight, he pointed out that the elections
    would be monitored by observers from the OSCE and the Council of
    Europe.
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