ANCA WELCOMES REJECTION BY OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF DIVISIVE
NAGORNO KARABAGH RESOLUTION
WASHINGTON, JULY 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Parliamentary
Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE PA), meeting on July 2 in Washington, DC, voted overwhelmingly
to defeat a controversial measure on Nagorno Karabagh authored by
Azerbaijani Parliamentarian Sattar Safarov, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America. The vote took place during a meeting of
the OSCE PA’s Heads of Delegation, as part of the opening session of
the four-day meeting for members of Parliament from the 55 member
states of the OSCE. The Safarov resolution, which was widely viewed as
a biased and divisive measure, received only token support, with
nearly all the Heads of Delegation voting, by a show of hands, to keep
the measure off of the OSCE PA agenda. The OSCE PA proceedings are
being presided over by Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL), the first
U.S. legislator to ever serve in this capacity. Other members of
Congress participating in the Assembly include:
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), who is heading the U.S. delegation,
Senator George Voinovich (R-OH), and Representatives Christopher
H. Smith (R-NJ), Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD), Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD),
Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-NY), Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL), Mike
McIntyre (D-NC), Joseph R. Pitts (R-PA), Mike Pence (R-IN), and
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). The Armenian delegation is
being headed by Vahan Hovhannisian, the Deputy Speaker of Armenia’s
Parliament. Other members of the delegation are Artashes Geghamyan, MP
and Samvel Nikoyan, MP. The ANCA worked closely with the Armenian
delegation and the Armenian Embassy in Washington, DC, as well as with
Armenian National Committee affiliates in Canada and throughout
Europe, in sharing with OSCE PA members the dangers of the Safarov
resolution. “We would like to thank Congressman Hastings for his
leadership in the Assembly’s proceedings, and to express our
appreciation to all those who voted against the Safarov resolution for
their responsible stewardship of the OSCE’s efforts to facilitate a
negotiated settlement to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict,” said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. The defeat of the Safarov
resolution set the stage for the standard consideration by the
Assembly of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. This discussion is being
led by Swedish Member of Parliament Goran Lennmarker, who has served
since June of 2002 as the OSCE PA special representative on this
issue. In preparation for the OSCE PA meeting, Lennmarker presented a
report, entitled “A Golden Opportunity: Some Ideas on Nagorno Karabakh
Conflict,” to the Heads of Delegations to the OSCE PA. In this report,
Lennmarker stressed that there is now a golden opportunity, through
the OSCE Minsk Peace-process, for a peaceful solution of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict, based on a “win-win” concept where both Armenia and
Azerbaijan come out better. In his remarks, Lennmarker noted that “the
conflict is not frozen,” adding that “there is no alternative to a
peaceful solution – in fact there is an urgent need to solve the
conflict in order to end the personal, economic, and social suffering
on both sides of this conflict.” He proposed basing a solution on
experiences from Europe, where democracy and integration are
fundamental components in securing a lasting peace, and added that
strong European and international institutions stand ready to support
Armenia and Azerbaijan.