As OSCE Chairing State Kazakhstan will remain neutral to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem lest it be accused of solidarity with Turkic states, Shamil Stamkulov, Advisor to the Kazakh Embassy in Azerbaijan, stated at the February 12 panel discussion “New OSCE Chairman Kanat Saudabayev’s first visit to South Caucasus: opportunities and forecasts.”

“It is most important that communities start working to reach agreements. I think Kazakhstan will lay emphasis on this. Kazakhstan’s position is: territorial integrity is of primary importance,” Stamkulov said.

According to him, all that has been done by the OSCE and international community to resolve the problem will be used.

At a press briefing in Astaka on February 12, Askar Abdrakhmanov, an official of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reported that Kanat Saudabayev ill be on a visit to the South Caucasus on February 14-17.

“During his visits to Baku, Yerevan and Tbilisi he will hold meetings with the leaders of the three states, Parliament Speakers and leaders of political parties,” he said.

The sides will discuss problems of security and stability in the South Caucasus, aid in settling the regional conflicts, enhancement of the OSCE’s role in resolving the problems.

Abdrakhmanov stressed that issues of assisting the settlement of protracted conflicts in the OSCE territory and of enhancing South Caucasus security are the focus of the Kazakhstan’s presidency.

“This is the reason why the incumbent chairman intends to visit the region first,” he said.

T.P.