Council of Europe report urges Armenia to withdraw from Azeri lands, MP says

Zerkalo, Baku
16 Sep 04

Text of Farid report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on 16 September
headlined “Armenia should vacate occupied territories” and subheaded
“Samad Seyidov says this idea is reflected in the report on Armenia’s
commitments to the Council of Europe”

A report by the rapporteurs on political prisoners in Azerbaijan,
Andreas Gross and Andres Herkel, was heard at the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe’s (PACE) Monitoring Committee
yesterday [15 September], the head of the Azerbaijani delegation to
PACE, Samad Seyidov, has told Zerkalo.

He said the report reflects Azerbaijani realities and noted that
despite the fact that some parts of the report are arguable, it
is generally constructive and is aimed at developing Azerbaijan’s
relations with the Council of Europe.

The head of the Azerbaijani delegation added that the report would
be discussed at the PACE session in October and “we will certainly
propose amendments”.

Seyidov said the report contains both positive aspects of what is going
on in Azerbaijan and certain criticism on the part of European MPs.

The head of the Azerbaijani delegation said further that during
the meeting the European MPs had spoken highly of the latest
presidential pardon. Seyidov added that the release of [leader of
the self-proclaimed Talis-Mugan Republic in the south of Azerbaijan]
Alikram Humbatov was particularly welcomed as he was one of the three
people on the Council of Europe’s list of those who the organization
wanted to be freed or retried. Seyidov said “we can already say
that significant steps have been taken towards removing the issue
of political prisoners from the agenda and the issue has practically
been resolved”.

At the same time, he said that European MPs are unlikely to abandon
the topic so easily and will continue to trace the way developments
unfold in the future as well.

During the discussions, the European rapporteurs expressed the
hope that the trial of those involved in the [post-election] October
events would be completed soon. He said the issue of setting up public
television had also been discussed.

The report touches on the Karabakh issue as well, Seyidov said. The
document says that the problem should be resolved within the framework
of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. He added that the section of
the report dedicated to Armenia’s commitments says in plain terms
that Armenia should unconditionally withdraw its troops from the
seven occupied Azerbaijani districts [around Nagornyy Karabakh].