Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2
Trend:
A meeting of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has been recently held.
In his statement on "Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan", Robert Walter, the rapporteur of the committee, said that the Armenian side prevents the preparation of the report and for this reason it was impossible to deliver a report at the meeting on September 1, Elkhan Suleymanov, the member of the Azerbaijani delegation in PACE, told Trend Sept. 2.
"Despite the PACE numerous attempts, Armenia avoids cooperation with the rapporteur, refuses to organize his visit to the contact line and Armenia and complicates the preparation of the report," he said.
In his statement, Walter said that the Azerbaijani side is ready to cooperate. He visited Azerbaijan and held several meetings in Baku in March 2015. He also appealed to the Azerbaijani government by asking to create an opportunity to visit the contact line from the Azerbaijani territory due to the unwillingness of the Armenian side to cooperate with the PACE.
Walter expressed his determination to prepare the report despite Armenia's refusal to cooperate.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by CN