APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 5 2014
Motions aiming to put illegal occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and
other occupied territories of Azerbaijan on PACE agenda finally
adopted by PACE Bureau in Paris
[ 05 September 2014 18:07 ]
Elkhan Suleymanov, Chairman of Azerbaijani Delegation to the Euronest PA
Member of Azerbaijani Delegation to PACE
Baku – APA. Today PACE-Bureau decided by historical vote of 20 votes
against 5 that motions for resolution, written and tabled by me, will
be referred to the PACE Political Affairs Committee for report. The
precise title of the report, which was subject to very tough
discussions, was eventually adopted – beside three abstentions – with
majority by unanimity: “Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and
other occupied territories of Azerbaijan”.
I would like to particularly stress that the result of the vote is
indeed historical as this topic on occupied territories has not been
discussed in the Council of Europe for 10 years, and it was impossible
since to put the issue on the agenda, as all initiatives regarding the
debates on the occupied territories were blocked by effective Armenian
lobbying against Azerbaijan, even with support by Head of Secretariat.
I would like also to note that the discussion about exact wording of
the title of the upcoming report was very hard, as every word in this
title has its importance, to stress rightful position of Azerbaijan in
comprehensive way.
Already in April 2013 a first motion for resolution critical of the
international community turning a blind eye to Armenia’s illegal
occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and its 7 surrounding regions, signed
and tabled by me and signed by 24 of his colleagues in PACE, was
blocked by a veto by the President of the Assembly, during PACE 2013
spring session in Strasbourg.
On May 9th 2013 a new motion for resolution was tabled by 31 members
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, from 8
different European Union countries, and it says: “In several
resolutions by international community, Armenia was clearly identified
as an aggressor state which was repeatedly condemned for armed
aggression, also by the Council of Europe, as Armenia’s attitude in
this regard goes straight against PACE’s fundamental principles”. It’s
clear that the 31 European MP’s through this motion for resolution
wished to put emphasis on the fact that the Council of Europe does not
fulfill its obligations in respect of Azerbaijan.
However, the Council of Europe is constantly putting pressure on
Azerbaijan, and is not willing to give up double standards. This
second motion, signed by the previously mentioned 31 MP’s, all
originating from the European Union, was not subject to veto by the
President of the Assembly, but was blocked this time by Presidential
Committee. So both 2013 motions for resolution, even when being
clearly in order, did not get the political response that fairly could
be expected. Both were blocked before any debate. Why? Why does
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe blindly support
Armenians and ignore the just right of Azerbaijan? What is the purpose
of these repeated actions?
On June 26th 2013, a third motion for resolution was signed and tabled
in Strasbourg on my initiative: “This motion was co-signed by 45 MP’s,
members from PACE, originating from 18 different countries. This
motion calls on some urgent and immediate political action from the
PACE, stressing the high emergency of the very poor and dangerous
condition of Sarsang reservoir, being of vital importance for 400.000
Azerbaijani inhabitants of frontier non-occupied provinces in
Azerbaijan, due to lack of maintenance as a result of occupation, and
its danger for the population of surrounding provinces. The motion is
therefore calling the Assembly to strongly condemn the illegal
blockade by Armenia of water supplies and irrigation systems in the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan, being in breach with fundamental
principles of international law, and considers this abuse of power by
Armenia as inhuman. I’d like to note that two motions on Sarsang prior
to this motion were groundlessly vetoed.
Eventually this motion was adopted for report by Bureau, to be
prepared and discussed in the Social Affairs Committee. Elkhan
Suleymanov “It was a big step forward, as it was the first time since
many years that the preparation of any report on such topic was
agreed. We now hope that the outcome of this report on Sarsang
reservoir by beginning of 2015 will be fair, neutral and
comprehensive.”
In the meantime, a new motion for resolution on my initiative,
demanding the application of sanctions against Armenian delegation for
its continuous armed occupation of Azerbaijani territories, was tabled
and published on PACE website on June 18th, 2014. This motion was
co-signed by not less than 58 Members of Parliament representing 14
PACE member states. A letter was sent to all Bureau members expressing
sincere hope that both PACE leadership and PACE Secretariat would this
time – for the first time! – demonstrate objective position towards
Azerbaijan in general, and towards the submitted motion for resolution
in particular.
But on Sunday 22 June during Presidential Committee meeting, PACE
Secretary-General Mr Sawicki raised a vague last minute procedural
objection against the motion, as it could be expected. Indeed, when it
comes to legitimate demands by Azerbaijan, again and again, very last
minute vague administrative obstacles are fabricated by Armenian lobby
and their supporters in the administration.
>From the very start this motion was facing stubborn artificial
administrative obstacles in the Presidential Committee and was
eventually blocked for reasons, which could not be justified. No “Rule
of Procedure” could be quoted. However, I absolutely wanted to use
this political momentum to have the issue of occupied territories back
on the PACE agenda, after 10 years.
So, he insisted again to have such open and transparent debate within
PACE on the issue of the occupied Azerbaijani territories, to be
developed in a report and a resolution on the substance, by submitting
another new motion for resolution, on Tuesday 24 June in the morning.
I collected 28 signatures from colleagues from 16 member states. Even
Mr Sawicki, who was fighting against us since the beginning, was
extremely surprised by this realization and had no other choice than
to accept my new motion!
But the Secretary-General’s battle to block our motions didn’t stop.
In full support of Armenians, Secretariat drafts another motion, with
very short title “on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”, clearly aiming to
mislead the MP’s. I immediately perceived the low strategy by
Secretariat. This motion aimed at preventing any discussions on the
occupied territories, thus, most of the colleagues were confused. This
motion looks probably acceptable at first sight for European MP’s, but
is of course absolutely misleading, as it ignores the illegal military
occupation of seven surrounding districts, besides Nagorno-Karabakh.
Finally, during Friday 27th June 2014, meeting of the Bureau, the
matter on the tabled motions was included in the agenda again. Some
progress is made for achieving our goals: on the substance there was
general consensus growing that eventually and maybe “some kind of”
report could be drafted on this issue. Main concern remained the title
of this report. Mr Sawicki openly insisted to have only
“Nagorno-Karabakh conflict” in the title, while I absolutely wanted to
include “all other occupied territories”, in which obviously every
word has its importance.
By the way, I’d like to reiterate that this is not a conflict, but the
occupation of Azerbaijani territories through armed aggression. After
some controversial interventions by Secretariat the meeting of Bureau
on 27th June ended in total confusion, and the decision was eventually
postponed till September 2014 meeting of Bureau in Paris.
I believed that after so many deceptions, so many blockades and
postponements, the September 2nd 2014 meeting in Paris has to be
decisive. Moreover, during that today’s Bureau meeting in Paris, masks
are finally falling down. As he ran out of artificial procedural
obstacles, Mr Sawicki today openly advocated the interests of Armenia
before the Bureau, strongly arguing against the motions being referred
for report, and strongly acting against the proposed title of the
motion. He said that the adopted title is “provocative towards
Armenia”, thus as a civil servant directly interfering in the
political debate, while all international organizations, including
PACE, always confirmed that occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and
surrounding territories by Armenia is illegal. So, Mr Sawicki as civil
servant is openly, before Bureau in session, denying the authority of
resolutions of his own organization.
I had a very clear position towards such unacceptable behavior by a
civil servant. I think that such person can no longer hold his
position as Secretary-General of the Assembly, as he is not acting as
a neutral civil servant, but he is getting deeply committed in very
sensitive political questions, as he is – without any refrain – openly
advocating illegal standpoint of one member-state against my country.
The position of Mr Sawicki is obviously so hostile against Azerbaijan,
that I also urge Azerbaijani authorities to raise this matter without
delay before the Council of Europe’s Council of Ministers.”
But fortunately today in Paris the common sense prevailed over the
ongoing maneuvers by the Head of Secretariat. By 20 votes against 5,
motions were referred for report to the Political Affairs Committee.
Analyzing this decision, I consider four important elements. First, we
notice that international organizations still remain very reluctant to
solve the problem of the illegal occupation of Azerbaijani
territories. Secondly, more than ever it’s clear that Azerbaijan
should look for its own way to solve its problems. Thirdly, if ever
this report on occupied territories will be written in a neutral and
correct way, it will show the real situation on the field, so let’s
hope that will be the case. Fourthly, I repeat that a country being
under occupation should not be attacked as we are for other mostly
fabricated reasons.
However, with regard to the adopted decisions, the fight is not over
yet. The positive decision by Bureau needs to be endorsed – once more!
– at the first meeting of Plenary Assembly at the end of the month, in
Strasbourg. Mr Sawicki openly warned the Bureau that he expects that
Bureau’s decision will be challenged by plenary session. And indeed,
it can be expected that Mr Sawicki himself will coordinate such action
behind the screens, as he was so strongly and openly disappointed by
the Bureau’s decision, going against the interests of Armenia, the
country of which he was the most secure firewall, until today.
For me, the analysis of all the problems Azerbaijan has been facing is
very clear. Until today, Azerbaijan only experienced repeated vetoes
on previous motions and very unfortunately we witness the same
approach in other international organizations, such as the European
Parliament, the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly or the OSCE-
Parliamentary Assembly. It is clear to all that there is only one
reason for the pressures put by international organizations, as well
as Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, against
Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan should never demand the just and right return
of its occupied territories. But international organizations should
understand that Azerbaijani people would never give up its legitimate
demands, which are explicitly confirmed in several international
resolutions.
It is crystal clear that in order to divert the international public
opinion from this ongoing injustice, international organizations,
including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
continuously, deliberately and biasedly try to establish the image of
Azerbaijan as an anti-democratic country, which grossly violates human
rights and freedoms. The Azeri public opinion believes that such
continuous campaign against Azerbaijan in the Council of Europe and
international institutions has one major purpose: to achieve that the
international community forgets about massive and gross violation of
rights of over 1 million Azerbaijani citizens by Armenia, presence of
refugees and internally displaced people for almost 20 years, and the
failure to ensure their rights to return their homelands and live
safely and that all these remain beyond the attention of international
community.
However, I want to end with a positive expectation. In a few months
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, by seriously
considering the motion on the Sarsang water reservoir, can prove that
they really care about honest cooperation and good political practice.
Later on, in the upcoming report in the Political Affairs Committee,
the Assembly can prove that the matter of the illegal occupation of
Azerbaijani territories is a real and sincere concern to the Council
of Europe. But for sure, it has to be clear for the international
community that Azerbaijan will never give up on this just and right
cause.
And about today’s result in PACE’s Bureau I have one last comment that
finally, in all modesty, I wish to express that today I am very proud,
after all those years, to have achieved the start of reports on both
issues, Sarsang reservoir and occupied territories, and I very warmly
thank all colleagues from PACE Bureau who showed their support to
these fair and just causes.
But the work has only begun. Political struggle against international
organizations, who have unjust position against the injustice
regarding the fact of occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia
will continue.
Paris, September 2, 2014.