Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 23 2004

Armenian FM criticizes PACE report on Upper Garabagh

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said he was dissatisfied
with the report presented by the former rapporteur of the Parliament
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Upper Garabagh, head of
the British delegation in the PACE, Terry Davis.
`It is unacceptable for Armenia’, Oskanian said.
The Armenian minister said he has no hopes for the new rapporteur,
Englishman David Atkinson, either. Oskanian said he was aware of
Great Britain’s position on the territorial integrity issue but added
that `the Armenian side is already studying the matter’.
Terry Davis was appointed as rapporteur on Upper Garabagh at the PACE
summer session in 2002, and as the Council of Europe Secretary
General in June 2004.
The PACE Political Committee heard the report on Upper Garabagh
presented by Davis in Paris on September 14, 2004. On the same day,
British parliament member David Atkinson was appointed as the new
rapporteur on Upper Garabagh. Atkinson has already expressed his
intention to meet with the conflicting parties. The date for his
arrival in the South Caucasus region has not been reported yet.*