ISSUE OF MISSING PEOPLE IN AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA AND GEORGIA MAY BE INCLUDED IN PACE AGENDA – AZERI AMBASSADOR
Author: A.Ismaylova

TREND, Azerbaijan
Oct 2 2006

The Autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) begins on October 2. The meeting will begin at 18:00
Baku time, The Azerbaijani Ambassador in the Council of Europe Akshin
Mehdiyev told Trend.

The session will be opened by the President of PACE, Rene van der
Linden. Later, it is planned to elect the Vice President of the
Assembly, make changes to the composition of the Committees and
organize debates on several issues. In addition, the Chairman of the
Russian State, Duma Boris Grizlova, is expected to make a speech.

According to the Ambassador, the priority of the second day of the
session will be dedicated to the situation in the Balkans. For this
topic, reports will be delivered by the Prime Minister of Albania,
Sali Berish, Prime Minister of Croat, Iv Sandar and the Serbian
President Boris Tadich. After dinner, discussions on the Balkans
will continue. The second issue of this day will be the situation
in Kosovo. Mehdiyev believes that this topic will be interesting
for Azerbaijan.

The Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferens Durchan, will make a speech at
the session on 4 October. In addition, the Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov is expected to deliver a report. The issue of Kurds will
also be discussed and Lord Russell Johnson will present a speech in
this regard.

The Ambassador stressed that there is a possibility that the statement
of the PACE reporter for missing people in South Caucasus Leo Platvoet
will be presented at the discussions on October 5.

It should be mentioned that after his visit to Nagorno-Karabakh and
Abkhazia, Leo Platvoet made a statement that it is possible to achieve
progress on the issue of missing people in Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Georgia. He came to the conclusion that the parties intend to engage
in these issues not from a political, but humanitarian, point of view.

Moreover, a center for victims of forced emigration and ethical
cleansing will be created on October 5. The session will draw to a
close on October 6.