Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend I.Alizade / Azerbaijan is dissatisfied with the attitude of the Council of Europe (CE) towards the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, MP Samed Seyidov, the Chairman of the Permanent Parliamentary Commission on International Relations and Interparliamentary Relations, as well as the head of the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the CE, said in a meeting led by Chetin Kazak, Chairman of the Sub-committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO on democratic governance.
"The Council of Europe (CE) has not yet condemned Armenia's aggression towards Azerbaijan and has not stated its position. The same can be said about other international organizations along with the NATO PA, Seyidov said.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988 due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.
Seyidov said that in January 2005, PACE took a resolution on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Furthermore, an Ad Hoc Committee on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict operates within PACE. "The resolution reflects the occupation of the Azerbaijani territory and the danger related with the unsettlement of the conflict," the chairman of the commission said.
In his turn Kazak said that NATO is aware of problems in the South Caucasus region. "Over the past few years the alliance has attached great importance to the resolution of the conflict and problems in the South Caucasus. At the same time NATO's interest in the region has increased," he added
A visit of the delegation of the Sub-Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Committee to Azerbaijan began on 19 September. During the visit the delegation will hold meetings at the Interior Ministry, the Security Ministry, and Milli Majis. NATO delegation plans to study the political, economic, military and human rights situation and to become familiar with reforms in these spheres. The results of the visit will be included a report.