Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov criticized on Wednesday the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for failing to prevent ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan this summer.
At least 400 people were killed in the clashes in the Central Asian republic in mid-June. About 100,000 ethnic Uzbeks fled to neighboring Uzbekistan and hundreds of houses were destroyed in the Kyrgyz Osh and Jalalabad regions.
"We have to admit that, unfortunately, the OSCE and its structures did not play a positive role in the prevention and neutralization of the bloody events in the south of Kyrgyzstan in June this year," Norov said at an OSCE summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana.
The Uzbek minister said violence may erupt in Kyrgyzstan again if a thorough international investigation is not conducted and all instigators of the clashes are not brought to justice.
Norov also criticized the strategy of the coalition forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"It is becoming ever clearer that there is no military solution to the Afghan problem and that the settlement strategy chosen by the coalition forces is not rendering the expected results," the minister said.
Despite the efforts of the Afghan government supported by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and a U.S. military contingent, the Taliban continues to control up to 70 percent of Afghan territory, vowing to drive all "occupiers and aggressors" from the country.
Norov reiterated Uzbekistan's call to find alternative solutions for a peaceful settlement in the war-ravaged country, including the return to multilateral talks under the UN aegis.
Uzbekistan proposed in 2008 that the UN's "6+2" group on Afghanistan, established in 1999, be revived and expanded to a "6+3" format, with the participation of NATO, to take into account the alliance's anti-terrorist operations in the country.
The group's "six" members are Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, China and Iran and the "two" are the United States and Russia.
"The context of the Uzbek initiative is based on the recognition that internal Afghan affairs must be resolved by the Afghan people with assistance from countries whose security interests include bringing an end to the war and promoting stability in Afghanistan," Norov said.
According to the minister, the talks should be held with all major opposing sides and focus on economic assistance, support of social and humanitarian projects, and fighting unemployment, poverty and lawlessness.
ASTANA, December 1 (RIA Novosti)
