President of Austria on possible isolation of Azerbaijan within the OSCE
London-based Turkish newspaper The Business Year published an interview with President of Austria, Heinz Fischer on relations between Azerbaijan and Austria and areas of cooperation.
The first question of the interview referred to priorities of the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship in 2017.
President Fischer criticized the decision of the government of Azerbaijan in July last year to close the office of the OSCE Project Coordinator in Baku. “This step has unfortunately significantly weakened the positive role of the OSCE in Azerbaijan and might also carry the danger of an isolation of Azerbaijan within the OSCE”.
Stressing the importance of OSCE as a conflict solving organization, the President thinks Azerbaijan might be interested in reviewing its decision and consider a reopening of the office.
“We are fully aware of the central and sensitive issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The dramatic increase of violence in 2015 along the line of contact is a matter of serious concern. I am aware of the frustration of Azerbaijan with respect to the efforts of the Co-Chairs of the Minsk group in solving the issue. Nevertheless, we are convinced that the Minsk Group is the only practical platform for conflict resolution. We, therefore, hope that that Azerbaijan will continue to work closely with the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group and within all other structures of the OSCE. The solution based on the Madrid Principles of 2007 is still on the table and, as far as I have been informed, the Russian Federation is promoting a similar solution along these lines,” the President said speaking of the priorities of the OSCE Chairmanship in the coming year.
The Business Year allows countries such as Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, etc, often criticized by the international community, to represent their countries in a positive context.
The Business Year: Kazakhstan 2016 is out now! Read online today at https://t.co/0hf1OcSEyO pic.twitter.com/grVCohio26
— The Business Year (@TBYupdates) May 24, 2016
To remind, earlier, according to Azerbaijani media, The Business Year announced President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev “Man of the Year”.
The newspaper constantly publishes articles and special issues on Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov gave an interview to the newspaper in February.
— Hikmet Hajiyev (@HikmetHajiyev) February 15, 2016
Interview by FM Elmar #Mammadyarov to #BusinessYear @TBYupdates https://t.co/D1aHHoqLtC#Azerbaijan