“I EXPECT BETTER DEMOCRACY IN ARMENIA”
(The exclusive interview of Council of Europe Secretary General Terry
Davis to Armenian Mediamax news agency, April 2006)

– Are you following the Nagorno Karabakh peace talks?

– Of course, I take close interest in what is happening over the
problem of Nagorno Karabakh. Whenever I meet foreign ministers of
Armenia or Azerbaijan I discuss it with them. I regret that it’s
taking such a long time to settle this issue because I am sure that
it’s in the interest of the people in Armenia and Azerbaijan and
especially people in Nagorno Karabakh for this issue to be settled.

– Do you think regional cooperation in the South Caucasus is possible
before the resolution of existing conflicts?

– Well, unfortunately there are many conflicts in the South Caucasus
and I regret all of them – the conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia
and Nagorno Karabakh. My view is that cooperation is always
possible, but there is a limit to how much cooperation you may have
when you have these very serious conflicts.

– Do you think the Council of Europe could play a more active role in
the Nagorno Karabakh peace process?

– Of course, the OSCE Minsk Group plays a leading role. I truly wish
luck to Russian, American and French co-chairs with this difficult
work that they are trying to do. It’s in the interest not only of
the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan, but in the interest of the
people everywhere in the world. But the OSCE is leading on it, not
the Council of Europe.

And, what I am always trying to do in both Armenia and Azerbaijan is
to persuade people that there are men and women in the other country
who also suffer, who have very similar feelings. And anything that can
get this across, the people in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, I think is
bound to help to the resolution of this conflict. And that’s what I am
interested to encourage. But in the end of the day the responsibility
to resolve the conflict is with the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis.

– Do you think it’s still possible to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict this year?

– I don’t know. I think you will have to ask the foreign ministers or
perhaps, even more important, the Presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan. They are the people who have the responsibility talking
to each other. How optimistic or pessimistic they are, I don’t know.

– Can the process of European integration secure a stronger motive for
compromise for Armenia and Azerbaijan?

– To my mind, the biggest motive for compromise should be the welfare
of the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

– Do you see any big problems in relations between Armenia and the
Council of Europe?

– Well, I don’t see any problems. Sometimes, I am surprised that we
are constantly searching for problems. Of course, there are some
things in Armenia that we would like to see changed. We certainly
encourage Armenia to do all sorts of things to catch up with the
rest of Europe. From time to time we have to say to our friends in
Armenia that we are still waiting for you to do this or that which
you promised to do. That’s intended to be helpful. So, I don’t see
any big problems between the Council of Europe and Armenia.

I think Armenia is making a contribution to European discussions on
the whole, but I must tell you frankly – I believe Armenia could make
a bigger contribution, and the reason Armenia does not make as bigger
contributions as I would like is because you do have this problem with
Nagorno Karabakh. And as soon as you get that settled, it is going to
affect the contribution made by Armenia and Azerbaijan to the rest of
Europe. I think you could make a very valuable contribution – from
particular point of view, the Armenian point of view – based on the
history, traditions and culture of the Armenian people.

– What steps may the Council of Europe take regarding the destruction
of Armenian monuments in Azerbaijani territory of Nakhichevan?

– We are trying to organize a fact finding mission to visit not only
the places you have mentioned but other places too, where there are
allegations about memorials or monuments or religious things having
been damaged. It does not matter whether these are Armenian or
Azerbaijani. As civilized people, we should be concerned about
anybody’s memorials or monuments being damaged. So, the important
thing is to get people to work together on this. The fact finding
mission, we hope, will have Armenians and Azerbaijanis working
together to find a better way to improve general cooperation for the
people to realize that we all have to respect each other’s believes,
each other’s culture and to protect other peoples’ religious
believes and culture.

– The closed border between Armenia and Turkey remains one of the most
complicated problems in the region. Don’t you think the Council of
Europe could play a role in improving the Turkish-Armenian
relations?

– This is really a very important issue. But it is peripheral, it is
only edge. The important thing is to deal with the central problem,
and we all know what the central problem is. It is the future of
Nagorno Karabakh. So, let’s get that settled, let’s go to the heart
of the problem, not doing things around it.

– Will the Council of Europe observe parliamentary elections in
Armenia next year?

– I will expect the CoE to be invited to observe the elections in
Armenia. The Council of Europe has been invited and has observed
recent elections in Armenia. And I shall be surprised if the CoE is
not invited next year.

What do I expect from them? What I expect of better elections that
have been held before. I expect real progress to be made in making
sure that these elections are free and fair elections. Everyone has
opportunity to be a candidate and not to be harassed, to have no
suppression, to have freedom of expression, freedom to explain one’s
point of view, to try to persuade other people to vote for your point
of view. In other words, what I expect is a better democracy in
Armenia.