ARMENIA SPEAKER ACCUSES AZERBAIJAN OF ABUSING POSITION AT PACE
RIA Novosti, Russia
June 29 2006
YEREVAN, June 29 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia’s parliamentary speaker
accused Azerbaijan of using the rostrum of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe to insult Armenia, the parliament’s press
department said Thursday.
Tigran Torosyan told PACE Secretary General Terry Davis in Strasbourg
Wednesday: "The PACE session in Strasbourg is highly important
for joint discussion of issues linked with the fulfillment of the
countries’ obligations, while Azerbaijan is using the PACE rostrum
to insult and slander Armenia."
Torosyan said Azerbaijani delegates had accused Armenia of starting
forest fires in troubled Nagorny-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan
with a largely ethnic Armenian population, and neighboring territories.
He said Nagorny-Karabakh had asked the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, the world’s largest regional security body,
two weeks ago to monitor the situation and prove the accusations false.
Torosyan also said that in this situation the Armenian delegation
could not abstain from reciprocal statements. He said false insults
and accusations were unworthy of the Council of Europe’s principles,
and proposed taking steps to resolve the situation.