PACE POSTPONES ARMENIAN DEBATE UNTIL JANUARY

State Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan
June 27, 2008 Friday

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to postpone
debates on Armenia until January.

In a meeting on June 25, PACE members discussed the country`s
fulfilling the assembly`s demands after a report by the organization’s
co-rapporteurs said the Armenian authorities failed to make sufficient
progress following the post-election violence this February.

John Prescott, PACE co-rapporteur on the Armenian elections, said the
country made insufficient progress in fulfilling PACE resolution 1609
on functioning of democratic institutions.

Prescott said huge job must be done in Armenia to develop democratic
institutions.

Raffi Hovanesian, a member of the Armenian delegation to PACE,
said his country failed to pass the democracy test, and added he
will refuse his deputy mandate if the Armenian authorities fail to
stabilize the domestic political situation.

Rafael Huseynov, an Azerbaijani member of parliament, called Armenia
a unique state whose state sovereignty is something symbolic as the
country is unable to pursue independent policy and is ruled from
the outside.

He said the political situation in Armenia is continuing escalating
since the authorities are still unable to embark on a dialogue with
the opposition.

The Azeri diplomat called on PACE to impose sanctions on Armenia and
strip it from its membership, saying the country may become a huge
threat to democracy not only in the region, but also in whole Europe.