Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
 Monday


 We Want Europe in Nagorno Karabakh petition launched on change.org,
endorsed by MEPs, diplomats



YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. A petition entitled We Want Europe in
Nagorno Karabakh has been launched on the change.org petition website.

The petition mentions that Azerbaijan is conducting a policy of
isolation towards Nagorno Karabakh since the collapse of the USSR.

“Oil-rich Azerbaijan invests considerable effort and money to ensure
that foreign political leaders, officials, journalists and aid
organisations stay out of the territory. At Azerbaijan’s
insistence,the European Union (EU) also stays out of Nagorno-Karabakh.
In the past 20 years, no EU official has travelled there and no EU
assistance whatsoever has been provided to its population”, the
petition says.

It also mentioned that in this context, Nagorno Karabakh’s isolation
is unique, because “EU provides aid to 150 countries around the World.
It also provides aid to people in many unrecognized territories such
as Abkhazia, Transnistria and Northern Cyprus regardless of their
status. This policy is called “engagement without recognition”.

“We call on the EU to engage with Nagorno-Karabakh and support
projects to improve the living conditions of its population because EU
policies should contribute to the welfare, not to the hardship of
populations in Europe and in its periphery.

We also call on Europe to engage with Nagorno-Karabakh, because it
must be present and contribute to peace as conflict escalates on its
doorstep”, the petition reads.

The petition has been launched by AGBU Europe, and has already been
signed by Members of the European Parliament Frank Engel, Michèle
Rivasi, Bart Staes, Jill Evans, Peter Niedermüller, numerous
scientists, human rights activists, diplomats and others.