Mission starts in Baku
The OSCE Field Assessment Mission is starting its work in Azerbaijan. French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier arrived in Baku last night. According to the Azerbaijani ANS Television, the French Co-Chair has released the schedule of the assessment mission in the territories around Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to the French diplomat, today in the evening the group members will meet with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov, experts of the Ministry and representatives of the State Committee on Refugees and Deportees. On October 6, they will be received by Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.
"On the same day, the Assessment Mission will arrive in Yerevan where the group members will meet with Armenia's President and Foreign Minister and we will leave for Nagorno-Karabakh on October 7. We have scheduled to visit the territories around Nagorno-Karabakh and if the weather is favorable, we will end our mission either on October 13 or 14," said Bernard Fassier.
The French Co-Chair considered the mission as an important factor.
A fact-finding mission in the territories around Nagorno-Karabakh took place in February 2005 and, according to Bernard Fassier, the group members will also assess the changes that have taken place in the past five years.
The Co-Chair also clarified why the OSCE Field Assessment Mission is leaving for the territories from Armenia and not from Azerbaijan.
"We would like to show that there is no iron curtain on the line of contact of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Armed Forces and that the Co-Chairs can use any route. On our previous visit, we crossed the line of contact from the Azerbaijani side. This time the mission includes different experts and we found that it would be more appropriate to visit the territories from the Armenian side," said Bernard Fassier.
