Statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
BAKU, 24 October 2011 - The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors
Bernard Fassier of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor
Popov of the Russian Federation) and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk (Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office) traveled October 21-24 to
Yerevan, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Baku. The Co-Chairs met with Presidents
Sargsian and Aliyev, and with the de facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Co-Chairs stressed to the sides the need to improve significantly the
atmosphere of negotiations, increase trust, and strengthen implementation of
the ceasefire to allow further progress toward reaching a peaceful
settlement. The Co-Chairs offered several proposals for measures to enhance
confidence in different fields. The sides agreed in principle on the draft
mechanism to investigate incidents along the front lines that the Co-Chairs
proposed in April, and which Presidents Aliyev, Sargsian, and Medvedev agreed
to pursue in their March joint statement in Sochi.
The Co-Chairs also met separately with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and with Sheykhulislam Allahshukur
Pashazade, Grand Mufti and Chairman of the Caucasus Muslim Board, to discuss
the necessity of preparing the populations for a just, lasting, and peaceful
settlement.
On October 22, the Co-Chairs crossed the Line of Contact by foot for the
fourth time in the past fourteen months. This crossing highlighted again
that the Line is not a permanent barrier between neighboring peoples, and
demonstrated that military coordination is possible when all the sides are
willing.
The Co-Chairs will return to the region in late November to continue their
work with the sides to develop the measures described above and to determine
next steps to pave the way for future meetings between the sides.
