THREE FACTIONS OF RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ISSUE STATEMENT CONCERNING INTERVIEW OF NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF PACE WITH APA NEWS AGENCY

Noyan Tapan
Jan 28, 2010

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. "Republican Party of Armenia"
("RPA"), "Prosperous Armenia" and "Country of Law" factions of the
RA National Assembly issued a statement on January 27. Below is the
text of the statement:

"The Statement of "Republican Party of Armenia", "Prosperous Armenia"
and "Country of Law" factions of the RA National Assembly.

We call attention of the heads of the RA National Assembly to
the interview that the newly elected President of the PACE Mevlut
Cavusoglu gave to APA news agency on January 26, 2010, in which the
newly elected President of the PACE expressed biased opinions about
the Nagorno Karabakh problem.

Some comments made by the PACE president regarding "reality" call
into question his impartiality in perception of the Nagorno Karabakh
problem. The PACE president does not perceive well the nature and
elements of the conflict, as well as the current negotiation process
over it. He obvioulsy prefers to ignore the fact that the peaceful
settlement is based on adherence to several principles, including
the principle of self-determination. Evidently, the PACE president is
also indifferent to the problems related to the security of Nagorno
Karabakh’s people that are constantly endangered by Azerbaijani
authorities, now also through propaganda of hatred towards Armenians
and xenophobia. Moreover, we regret that being guided by Turkey’s
position on the problem and stressing that "this conflict seems to
hinder the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia",
the PACE president calls the authority of his tenure into question
from the viewpoint of playing a positive role in solution of regional
problems. This interview proves once again that conducting negotiations
is the competence of the authorized body only – in the given case the
OSCE and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and that any irresponsible
undertaking outside this format complicates and harms the negotiations
on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Given
the aforementioned circumstances, "Republican Party of Armenia",
"Prosperous Armenia" and "Country of Law" coalition factions of the
National Assembly urge the speaker of the RA National Assembly to
get more specific information from the PACE president concerning the
veracity of the interview, to request explanations from Mr.

Cavusoglu and to understand whether his words can be considered an
official position of the PACE, and in case of need, to seriously
discuss the issue of suspending Armenia’s participation in the PACE
work during the presidency of Mevlut Cavusoglu."

Later the PACE president explained to the members of the Armenian
delegation that "the Azerbaijani agency APA commented on his
words, as a result of which the meaning of what he said was
distorted. According to Mr. Cavusoglu, he did not use the phrases
mentioned in the interview, but he spoke about regional problems,
including Russian-Georgian, Armenian-Azerbaijani, and Armenian-Turkish
realtions that should be normalized through negotiations, saying that
the Nagorno Karabakh problem should be resolved in the format of the
OSCE Minsk Group and that the PACE can assist with solution of all
conflicts, especially in humanitarian problems.