OSCE CHAIRMAN IN OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE BRIEFS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000737 SIPDIS FOR EUR/CARC AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM AJ SUBJECT: OSCE CHAIRMAN IN OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE BRIEFS AMBASSADORS REF: A. BAKU 687 ¶B. BAKU 730 Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On July 30 the Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairman in Office Heikke Talvitie briefed the OSCE member country Ambassadors about his trip to Baku. He discussed the OSCE's role in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and its role in observing elections. In his meeting with President Aliyev, Talvitie felt the tone on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was less belligerent than in years past, but on election-monitoring Aliyev accused the OSCE of having "double standards." Overall, Talvitie was frank regarding problems the OSCE has had in the region, but upbeat on the progress being made to resolve these issues. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C) On July 30 the Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairman in Office Heikke Talvitie briefed the OSCE member and partner country Ambassadors on his meetings during his trip to Baku. He stated that his main task, and that of the OSCE Chairman in Office, has been facilitating conflict resolution, in Georgia and Moldova as well as Azerbaijan and Armenia. Talvitie reported that during his meetings in Baku with President Aliyev and with Foreign Minister Mammadyarov he stressed the importance of the Basic Principles, negotiated through the Minsk Group process, in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. President Aliyev told Talvitie that Azerbaijan's position was strong now, and Armenia is becoming more isolated. Talvitie felt, however, that Aliyev's tone was not belligerent, and that there was more hope for a resolution now than there had been in recent years, although certainly nothing before the presidential election in October. Talvitie stated that the difficult question remains the Lachin corridor, which connects Armenia proper to Nagorno-Karabakh. ¶3. (C) Talvitie's other topic of discussion was the upcoming presidential elections. He acknowledged openly that OSCE/ODIHR had lost credibility in the region due to their assessment of Armenia's recent flawed presidential election as "mostly" in line with international standards, but felt the new approach of using "three sentences" to summarize an election rather than "one word" helped in Georgia's recent election. Talvitie reported that President Aliyev accused the OSCE and the West of having "double standards" in the region, due to the Armenian election assessment. Talvitie stressed that all elections are judged against the OSCE's Copenhagen criteria, not against one another. ¶4. (C) Talvitie reported that the OSCE is also concerned about what will happen the day after the elections. OSCE Ambassador in Baku Jose-Luis Herrero reported that he had met with the Mayor of Baku, who confirmed that he would allow rallies to be held in accordance with the newly amended law on freedom of assembly. In addition, Talvitie met with representatives of Azerbaijan's police forces during his visit to stress that in controlling any demonstrations, the police should use as little force as possible. Talvitie also met with representatives of the Azerbaijani media, with whom he discussed both the journalists who had been arrested and the limited access of opposition presidential candidates to television time. COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) Talvitie was quite frank in his assessment of the problems that the OSCE has had in the South Caucasus, but upbeat on the progress being made to correct them, such as the new ODIHR election assessment method. The promise from the Mayor of Baku to allow political rallies is encouraging, although implementation remains to be seen (see refs). Overall, the visit was a good opportunity for the OSCE to stress the importance of the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and free and fair elections at the highest level of the GOAJ. Special Representative for the OSCE Chairman in Office for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Andrzej Kaspryzk told us that Talvitie intends to come to Baku for the election itself, to ensure smooth coordination between the OSCE and Council of Europe observer missions. DERSE