Azer News, Azerbaijan
July 1 2004

CE Secretary General confirms Garabagh part of Azerbaijan

The Council of Europe (CE) Political Committee held discussions on
Upper Garabagh on Thursday. Terry Davis, newly elected CE Secretary
General, presented a report on the issue. According to a member of
the CE Parliamentary Assembly representation in Azerbaijan Asim
Mollazada, who attended the meeting, Davis said in his statement that
Azerbaijani territories are under occupation and emphasized that
Azerbaijan is included into the United Nations (UN) together with
Upper Garabagh. In his speech at the Council of Europe on 23 June
Armenian President Kocharian maintained that “Garabagh has never been
part of independent Azerbaijan”.

He said that at the time of collapse of the Soviet Union two states
were allegedly formed: the Azerbaijani Republic on the territory of
the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and the Republic of Upper
Garabagh on the territory of the Upper Garabagh Autonomous Region.
Mollazada said that the report presented by Davis disclosed
Kocharian’s attempt to deceive the Council of Europe and the entire
international community. Davis said talks on settling the conflict
are underway. He went on to say that the last elections in Azerbaijan
and Armenia led to a delay in the talks. He also spoke of the
activity of the OSCE Minsk Group. Speaking at the meeting, Mollazada
stated that the biggest obstacle to settling the Garabagh conflict is
Kocharian himself, as he is not interested in a settlement meeting
international legal norms. “The policy pursued by Armenia and
Kocharian is based on an aspiration to acquire legal and political
support for occupation”, he concluded. Davis’s written report on
Upper Garabagh is expected to be discussed at the CE Political
Committee on September 14. Although Davis will prepare the report
himself, it will most likely be presented by the Committee chairman
Yakich. The report will be discussed at the PACE January session.

Court threat
At a Friday meeting of the Milli Majlis (parliament) Azerbaijani MPs
reacted to Kocharian’s words. MP Mais Safarli called upon the
parliament not to remain indifferent to the Armenian President’s
speech at the Council of Europe. He proposed that an appeal be sent
to the international court to arraign Kocharian. Supporting Safarli’s
proposal, MP Jahangir Huseynov noted that it was necessary to adopt
the appeal by the end of the parliamentary session. Other MPs
stressed that an appeal to bring the Armenian president to court
should be sent not only to the international court and organizations
but also to those countries that support Armenia’s policy of
aggression. Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov underlined that there were
enough grounds to arraign Kocharian and said that appropriate legal
documents would be compiled for the purpose.

OSCE PA to discuss Garabagh conflict
Upper Garabagh will be on the agenda of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly (PA) session to open on July 4, Speaker of the Milli Majlis
(parliament) Murtuz Alasgarov told a Friday meeting of the
parliament. Eldar Ibrahimov and Sattar Safarov, members of the
Azerbaijani delegation at the OSCE PA, will attend the session.
Underlining that the Council of Europe has already recognized Armenia
as an aggressor, Alasgarov said that the OSCE, which is directly
involved in the settlement of the Upper Garabagh conflict, had not
yet adopted a relevant decision on the matter. The Speaker stressed
that it was high time to demand the OSCE pass decisions and
resolutions recognizing Armenia as an aggressor.