PABSEC PLENARY SESSION TO BE CONVENED IN YEREVAN IN JUNE
Noyan Tapan
Mar 29 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The sitting of the Committee for
Economic, Trade, Technological and Ecological Issues, one of the
three specialized committees of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation took place in Bucharest on March
21-22. Republican Gagik Minasian, the head of the Armenian delegation
at the assembly presented some details of the discussions at the
March 28 press-conference. According to him, discussion of the issue
on struggle against economic crimes in the BSEC region was rather
stormy and strengthened. The main reason was the proposal to fix
an additional point in the report by Georgia, according to what,
so called grey territories, for example, post-conflict territories
in South Osetia and Abkhazia, where illegal markets are placed and
foreign currency is in illegal circulation, are also considered one
of main displays of economic crime. Like any discussion, this time
as well, representatives of the Azerbaijani delegation didn’t miss
the opportunity to speculate the NKR issue, presenting the regular
insistences about captured territories, the uncontrollable state of
the situation, etc.
Responding them, G.Minasian, making use of the right of out of
turn speech, particularly mentioned that there is no bases to call
Nagorno Karabakh “a grey territory” and that the NKR people build
its statehood in correspondence with all the international legal and
democratic principles. He also touched upon the special, organized
at the state level, type of the economic crime. This is the economic
blockade of a whole state, what Azerbaijan has implemented towards
Armenia for years. As a result of long-lasting discussions the “grey
territories” formulation was changed by “sensitive territories,”
without mentioning any concrete territory. At the same time it was
mentioned that such territories support illegal trade and illegal
circulation of foreign currency.
G.Minasian attached importance to this change also in the sense, that
unlike the “sensitive territories” formulation, “grey territories”
characteristical for post-conflict territories is a formulation
accepted in international relations.
An agreement is reached that instructions addressed to governments
of member countries arising of the report will be completed at the
PABSEC plenary session to be convened in Yerevan in June.