OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, has today met with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

The sides held a press conference following the meeting.

Mammadyarov said that the Nogorno Karabakh conflict was the main theme of the discussion.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister informed Eamon Gilmore about the standpoint of Azerbaijan on the settlement of the conflict.

"We came to a common conclusion at the meeting that the status quo is not acceptable and it needs to settle the conflict soon," Mammadyarov said. They also discussed the fulfilment of Azerbaijan's OSCE commitments.

Eamon Gilmore announced that during his visit to the region, he sent the same message to Baku and Yerevan for active continuation of the negotiations. He expressed concern on the incidents occurred on the frontline and called the sides not to use force. "I absolutely agree with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister that the conflict must be settled peacefully."

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office supported the Minsk Group's efforts and called the sides to remove snipers from the contact line and investigate the incidents. He noted that Ireland also faced such a conflict, that's why it understands all threats of fragile status quo.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office also told that they had touched upon the freedom of the press, economy, environment and other important issues during the meeting.

AzerTAc