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COUNCIL OF EUROPE: WHAT WILL CHANGE IN THE TURKEY-CHAIRED COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS?
Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
15.10.10
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
In November this year the chairmanship of the Council of Europe's
Committee of Ministers will be turned over to Turkey, namely, the
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
The change of chairmen in this committee - CE's decision-making body
comprised of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of all the member states
- is carried out by alphabetic order every six months, taking into
account the CE membership term of this or that state. Armenia will
chair the committee from May to November 2013, and Azerbaijan will
chair during the same period the year after, in 2014.
Today, of course, it is hard to say what will be happening with
the region in three-four years. Something else is obvious though:
Turkey will be using its current chairmanship (from November 2010
to May 2011) to support Azerbaijan in the Karabakh issue, and to
"make a special report" on Nagorno-Karabakh.
Head of the Armenian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) David Harutyunyan believes that during
Turkey's chairmanship 'Turkish' and 'Azeri' issues will appear on
the agenda.
First of all, it is about the possible re-launching of the PACE
subcommittee on Nagorno-Karabakh, which would try to take the
initiative away from the OSCE Minsk Group.
Undoubtedly, Ankara will insist on the appropriateness of resuming
the subcommittee's activities. After the death of the subcommittee
chairman Lord Russell Johnston (at age 76) in July of 2008 that
structure was suspended.
However, the Armenian side believes that it was not suspended for
subjective reasons like the death of its head, but rather for quite
objective reasons conditioned by the secrecy of the operation of the
OSCE Minsk Group.
"We believe that the operation of a structure that failed not for
subjective but rather objective reasons should not be resumed, since
there is always the temptation risk of using the subcommittee for
propaganda," stressed Harutyunyan. "As of today, no final decision has
been made on this issue, and Azerbaijan keeps insisting on resuming
the operations of PACE subcommittee."
The issue is aggravated by the fact that PACE Chairman himself -
Turkish representative Mevlut Cavusoglu - supports the idea of setting
up such a commission on Nagorno-Karabakh.
It is, hence, obvious that starting November the Turkish efforts in
that direction will only double.
Earlier this year, in May, Cavusoglu visited Yerevan and stated that
he is planning to personally lead the subcommittee. While in Yerevan,
he also stated: "That structure had operated until its chairman Lord
Russell Johnston's death, after which there hasn't been and isn't
a full accord on who would be best to chair that commission, nor is
there consent over its format and mandate."
It is symptomatic that on October 4 - in the period of the OSCE
Minsk Group's field mission in the region - in Strasbourg Cavusoglu
stated again that the issue on resuming the PACE subcommittee on
Nagorno-Karabakh should be discussed.
On October 7, Strasbourg hosted the second meeting of Armenian and
Azeri delegations within the framework of PACE's fall session. The
issue of resuming the work of the PACE subcommittee on Nagorno-Karabakh
was discussed during the meeting Cavusoglu himself had initiated.
"Our main concern is that if the Karabakh issue remains unsolved, we
will be facing more serious problems. The Nagorno-Karabakh issue has
to be settled. Both OSCE and the Minsk Group have to be more active
in this concern," stated Cavusoglu categorically.
Speaking about Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu's forthcoming chairmanship
of the CE Ministerial Committee, the head of the Armenian delegation
stressed that the Turkish "Cavusoglu- Davutoglu" tandem will most
probably further the interests of their country in PACE.
The six months ahead promise activation of Ankara's and Baku's efforts
at shifting the initiative in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process
from the OSCE Minsk Group to the Council of Europe's dimension.
From: A. Papazian
Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
15.10.10
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
In November this year the chairmanship of the Council of Europe's
Committee of Ministers will be turned over to Turkey, namely, the
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
The change of chairmen in this committee - CE's decision-making body
comprised of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of all the member states
- is carried out by alphabetic order every six months, taking into
account the CE membership term of this or that state. Armenia will
chair the committee from May to November 2013, and Azerbaijan will
chair during the same period the year after, in 2014.
Today, of course, it is hard to say what will be happening with
the region in three-four years. Something else is obvious though:
Turkey will be using its current chairmanship (from November 2010
to May 2011) to support Azerbaijan in the Karabakh issue, and to
"make a special report" on Nagorno-Karabakh.
Head of the Armenian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) David Harutyunyan believes that during
Turkey's chairmanship 'Turkish' and 'Azeri' issues will appear on
the agenda.
First of all, it is about the possible re-launching of the PACE
subcommittee on Nagorno-Karabakh, which would try to take the
initiative away from the OSCE Minsk Group.
Undoubtedly, Ankara will insist on the appropriateness of resuming
the subcommittee's activities. After the death of the subcommittee
chairman Lord Russell Johnston (at age 76) in July of 2008 that
structure was suspended.
However, the Armenian side believes that it was not suspended for
subjective reasons like the death of its head, but rather for quite
objective reasons conditioned by the secrecy of the operation of the
OSCE Minsk Group.
"We believe that the operation of a structure that failed not for
subjective but rather objective reasons should not be resumed, since
there is always the temptation risk of using the subcommittee for
propaganda," stressed Harutyunyan. "As of today, no final decision has
been made on this issue, and Azerbaijan keeps insisting on resuming
the operations of PACE subcommittee."
The issue is aggravated by the fact that PACE Chairman himself -
Turkish representative Mevlut Cavusoglu - supports the idea of setting
up such a commission on Nagorno-Karabakh.
It is, hence, obvious that starting November the Turkish efforts in
that direction will only double.
Earlier this year, in May, Cavusoglu visited Yerevan and stated that
he is planning to personally lead the subcommittee. While in Yerevan,
he also stated: "That structure had operated until its chairman Lord
Russell Johnston's death, after which there hasn't been and isn't
a full accord on who would be best to chair that commission, nor is
there consent over its format and mandate."
It is symptomatic that on October 4 - in the period of the OSCE
Minsk Group's field mission in the region - in Strasbourg Cavusoglu
stated again that the issue on resuming the PACE subcommittee on
Nagorno-Karabakh should be discussed.
On October 7, Strasbourg hosted the second meeting of Armenian and
Azeri delegations within the framework of PACE's fall session. The
issue of resuming the work of the PACE subcommittee on Nagorno-Karabakh
was discussed during the meeting Cavusoglu himself had initiated.
"Our main concern is that if the Karabakh issue remains unsolved, we
will be facing more serious problems. The Nagorno-Karabakh issue has
to be settled. Both OSCE and the Minsk Group have to be more active
in this concern," stated Cavusoglu categorically.
Speaking about Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu's forthcoming chairmanship
of the CE Ministerial Committee, the head of the Armenian delegation
stressed that the Turkish "Cavusoglu- Davutoglu" tandem will most
probably further the interests of their country in PACE.
The six months ahead promise activation of Ankara's and Baku's efforts
at shifting the initiative in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process
from the OSCE Minsk Group to the Council of Europe's dimension.
From: A. Papazian