NKR MFA Recommends CoE Should More Seriously Consider State Of Democ

NAGORNO-KARABAKH MFA RECOMMENDS THAT COUNCIL OF EUROPE SHOULD MORE SERIOUSLY CONSIDER STATE OF DEMOCRACY IN AZERBAIJAN

DeFacto Agency
June 26 2008
Armenia

On June 27 the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic FM Georgy Petrossian made
comments concerning the adoption of PACE Resolution ¹ 1614 "On
Functioning of Democratic Institutes in Azerbaijan".

The comment of the NKR FM runs, in part,

"Steady democratic development is achieved only when a country
chooses its way taking into consideration its system of values and
does not seek pretexts to justify the fact that it does not meet
its international and legal engagements before the international
structures. At the same time strengthening of democracy and respect
for human rights can become prerequisites for peaceful and just
settlement of Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.

Without going into details concerning allegedly violation of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity we will only note that in modern
international practice one can observe cases when a country, being at a
war with other state or having numerous conflicts with its neighbors,
at the same time can claim the title of one of the most democratic
states. There are a lot of examples – Israel, India, etc.

Let’s ask a question – is the presence of prisoners of state in a
country a consequence of territorial integrity’s violation? Are mass
media suppressed and journalists beaten for the same reason? Judging
from appearances, the questions are rhetorical.

As a whole, Europe’s stand on maintaining a balanced attitude to the
South Caucasus countries is understandable. At the same time it arouses
perplexity that adherence to the approach presented by Azerbaijan
passes by the line of the Council of Europe’s basic priorities the
whole European architecture is guided by – democracy, supremacy of
law. While democracy in the NKR is a choice of the Nagorno-Karabakh
people, though it is not properly estimated by Europe, in Azerbaijan
we witness its spasmodic imitation. In this context we would advise
that the Council of Europe more seriously consider the state of
democracy in Azerbaijan and more responsibly approach democratic
processes taking place in the region as a whole. We are convinced that
only democratic Azerbaijan can become the neighbor Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic can speak common language with".

As for the fact that the formulation, according to which PACE takes
into consideration the U. N. General Assembly Resolution adopted
on March 14, 2008, found its reflection in the Resolution Georgy
Petrosian noted, "A day before the Chairman of the Council of Europe’s
Committee of Ministers justly stated that the Azerbaijani-Karabakh
conflict’s settlement was outside the Council of Europe’s competence;
the OSCE Minsk group deals with it. In this context the fact that the
Council of Europe quotes a document, which has not been supported by
the Minsk group Co-chair countries, at least arouses regret.

Consolidation of the formulation in the international organization’s
document can have only negative influence on the course of the
Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement and cannot contribute to the
creation of a positive negotiation climate via a dialogue declared
by the Council of Europe".

–Boundary_(ID_W0tyiZCSj9xpxcNJGutP Ng)–