Baku Welcomes Inclusion of Karabakh Settlement in Priorities of Italian Chairmanship in OSCE

Baku / 02.01.18 / Turan: The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan positively assessed the inclusion of the Karabakh settlement in the priorities of the Italian chairmanship in the OSCE in 2018.
Since January 1, 2018 Italy has been carrying out the mission of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. On this occasion, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano made an article on the organization's website about the priorities of the incumbent chairman, also referring to the Karabakh settlement.

"Italy will strengthen OSCE activities through existing formats for resolving long-term conflicts, and we will continue to work together with the three co-chairing countries within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the Italian Foreign Minister noted.

Azerbaijan positively assesses the inclusion by Italy, as the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in 2018, of the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the mediation and efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, the official representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev said on Tuesday.

He recalled the initiatives of Italy on the Karabakh settlement back in 1992.

"We very well remember the Urgent Action Schedule prepared in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution No. 822 (adopted in April 1993) by the Italian MP, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy, Mario Raffaelli, who was the Chairman of the CSCE Minsk Conference (formerly OSCE, the Minsk Conference was to be convened back in 1992 - Ed.), and then the Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group. The Urgent Action Schedule, providing for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, was submitted as an addition to Resolution No. 853 of the UN Security Council," Hajiyev said in an official commentary circulated by the press service of the Foreign Ministry on January 2.

He added that the UN Security Council in Resolution No. 874 welcomed and endorsed the Updated Urgent Action Schedule to Implement Security Council Resolutions 822 and 853 submitted by the OSCE Minsk Group.

"In addition, in Resolution No. 874 of the UN Security Council, it is required to ensure the implementation of mutual and urgent measures, in particular, the demand for the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which are provided for in the Updated Urgent Action Schedule of the OSCE Minsk Group," Hajiyev said.

As the official representative of the Foreign Ministry reminded, the Urgent Action Schedule regarding the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan at that time was prepared jointly with the nine member countries of the CSCE Minsk Conference.

"In July 1993, in the status of Chairman of the CSCE Minsk Conference, Mario Raffaelli, in his statement and in a report submitted to the UN Secretary-General on behalf of the nine member countries of the Minsk Conference, noted: "The immediate withdrawal of troops from the territories occupied by force is the most important factor for the advancement of peaceful negotiations" (United Nations Security Council document S / 26184 of 28 July 1993). We hope that Italy, in the status of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, will demonstrate its strength in its position to meet the requirements of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions," Hajiyev stressed. -06D--