Council of Europe adopts resolution on Armenian-Azeri conflict

ANS TV, Baku
25 Jan 05

[Presenter in studio] The discussions on the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict at the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe [PACE] came to an end about two hours ago. The
participants in the session heard David Atkinson’s report on the
conflict. Our special correspondent Ayaz Mirzayev reports from
Strasbourg.

[Correspondent by telephone] The resolution prepared on the basis of
British MP David Atkinson’s report on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
has been unanimously adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe [PACE]. No amendment, proposed by the Armenian side,
was made to the phrase separatist forces in the document. We should
note that the opposite side claimed that the use of this term in the
document was an affront to Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh’s Armenian
community and tried very hard to get the word freedom fighters used in
the document instead of separatist forces.

Before the session, the political committee even adopted a decision to
make this amendment. However, during the vote at the session, the
Azerbaijani and Turkish parliamentarians spoke out against this
amendment. The head of the Azerbaijani delegation, Samad Seyidov, said
in his speech that only the Armenian lobby was against the adoption of
the resolution and a speedy solution to the problem. They do not want
the resolution to be adopted and the conflict to be solved on the
basis of international law.

After heated discussions, even the political committee, which had
agreed to make this amendment, had to change its decision. During the
general vote, the overwhelming majority spoke out against the
amendment. In general, only two changes were adopted to the resolution
during the vote. One of them says that Azerbaijan should conduct
consultations with both the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities
without any preconditions. The resolution also appeals to
Secretary-General of the Parliamentary Assembly Terry Davis to hold
these consultations in Strasbourg. The other amendment is of a
technical nature. Samad Seyidov, head of the Azerbaijani delegation,
said that the resolution is of very special importance to
Azerbaijan. It shows that European countries already recognize Armenia
as an aggressor and acknowledge that Nagornyy Karabakh is still
controlled by separatist forces.

As for the other points of the resolution, they say that the sides
should not resort to a military solution, the Azerbaijani government
should establish ties with both communities of the region in order to
hold consultations on the future status of Nagornyy Karabakh and
should appeal to an international criminal court if it is impossible
to solve the conflict.

At the same time, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
decided to keep this issue at the centre of attention and return to it
at the January 2006 session.

Ayaz Mirzayev, ANS, Strasbourg.