TASK OF PACE COMMISSION ON KARABAKH TO GATHER INFORMATION ON OSCE MG WORK

Vice-Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, head of Armenian delegation to the PACE Tigran Torosian said he was perplexed with the stir the decision on the formation of a temporary PACE Commission on Nagorno Karabakh caused in Armenia. In his words, the forming of the Commission was provided for in the fifth item of the PACE Resolution over Nagorno Karabakh passed earlier. As Tigran Torosian noted at a press conference in Yerevan, the mandate of the Commission is very narrow – “their task is to gather information on the measures undertaken by the OSCE MG member states toward the soonest solution of the Karabakh problem. As the Armenian MP informed, the mandate does not provide for visits of the Commission members to the region. The sittings of that body will be held simultaneous or within the framework of the PACE sessions, thus the first one may already be convened in June. The Commission first report may be expected to be made in January 2006. “The PACE Commission on Nagorno Karabakh is not formed for replacing the accepted mediation format of the Karabakh problem or hampering the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group,” assured Tigran Torosian. It should be noted that besides the interested parties the Commission includes representatives of 6 countries – France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Sweden and Turkey, as well as Chairmen of PACE committees. Former Assembly President, British MP Lord Russel-Johnston will head the structure. Within the framework of the latter PACE Monitoring Committee Co-Rapporteur Andreas Gross and Andres Herkel, as well as the author of the report on Nagorno Karabakh David Atkinson will continue their activities, reported Regnum news agency.