BAKU: Armenia should be excluded from CoE

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
April 28 2005

ARMENIA SHOULD BE EXCLUDED FROM COUNCIL OF EUROPE
[April 28, 2005, 13:37:57]

Armenia bearing series of diplomatic failures, in particular,
undergone criticism in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe and officially represented in a number of documents of the
Council of Europe as a country – aggressor, resorts to the most
various provocations.

In 2001, when Azerbaijan and Armenia were admitted to the Council of
Europe, among their basic obligations was peace settlement of the
military conflict. However, Armenia uses various means to prevent
settlement of the conflict by diplomatic way. At the same time, it
declares that Azerbaijan is ostensibly going to solve the problem in
military way. Consecutive infringement by Armenia of ceasefire regime
testifies to its intention to involve Azerbaijan in open military
operations.

Addressing in the Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe, the
Armenians, taking out from the context of interview which during
various times were given by a number of Azerbaijani officials,
distort ideas, trying to create such representation that Azerbaijan
ostensibly supports the military way of settlement of the conflict.

In the next document prepared by member of the permanent delegation
of Azerbaijan in PACE Rafael Huseynov, exposing this false activity
of the Armenians, it is marked, that, as a matter of fact, Armenia
itself tries to untie military operations. In the document submitted
in the Ministerial Committee, titled `Intentions and attempts of
Armenia to continue aggression against Azerbaijan in the military
way’, it is stated:

`During admission into the Council of Europe, one of the basic
obligations of Armenia consisted in achievement of peace settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
However, it is already for 5 years Armenia evidently shows absence of
intention to carry out this task, as well as a number of other
obligations accepted before the Council of Europe. Recently, in
particular, in second half of 2004 and in the first months 2005,
Armenia with a view of provocation consistently breaks the ceasefire
regime proceeding already for 10 years. Besides, it is carried out
not only in the territories which are directly included in zone of
the conflict, but also on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border which are
taking place far enough from zone of the conflict and in completely
other direction. In result, for the expired period, besides soldiers
of national army of Azerbaijan, as a result of bombardment by the
Armenian armed forces, were lost tens peaceful citizens of
Azerbaijan.

All these actions of the Armenian side have openly provocative
character, solution of the problem are directed to diplomatic way on
prevention by all means and mean instigation to settlement of the
conflict in military way.

As Armenia, which the Council of Europe in the official documents
openly recognizes as aggressor, and the Nagorno-Karabakh regime which
it regards as separatist, realizes persistence of the international
public in settlement of the question in diplomatic way and their
unfair, unprofitable position in this sense, they see a way out to
kindling military operations, transformation of temporarily frozen
military conflict into open war. Infringement with special intensity
by Armenia of ceasefire is connected to it. While the truth consists
in it, the Armenian side distributes messages and accusations that
Azerbaijan is ostensibly interested in settlement of the conflict by
military way’.

Taking into account the listed facts, deputy R. Huseynov has
addressed to the Ministerial Committee with the following question:

`What measures the Committee of Ministers is going to take for
prevention of attempts of Armenia to expand scales of aggression
against Azerbaijan, its initiatives to proceed active military
operations, its instigations to military way of settlement of the
conflict and whether there has come time to apply against Armenia –
aggressive member of the Council of Europe – resolute sanctions, to
exclude it from this structure which is not worthy?’

Predictably, the document in the near future will be discussed in the
Ministerial Committee, and the Azerbaijan side will present for these
discussions and other facts openly testifying to falsification of the
Armenians.