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AZERBAIJAN FENDS OFF "BIASED" EURONEST PROPOSALS IN THE INTERESTS OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH
Sacramento Bee, CA
June 4 2013
By Azerbaijan Monitor
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 4, 2013 - 2:46 am
BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4, 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ --
Azerbaijan has successfully blocked more than 25 "biased and immoral"
proposals before the Spring Session of the Euronest Parliamentary
Assembly in Brussels that it says threatened its sovereignty and
its "legitimate" bid to regain the Armenian-occupied territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The proposals and amendments had been added to a resolution on
regional security challenges by Armenia and its EU supporters -
an irony not lost in the Azerbaijan delegation since Armenia's
occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh is the dominant regional security
challenge for Azerbaijan.
Chairman of Azerbaijani Delegation to Euronest PA, Elkhan Suleymanov,
managed to block the amendments - some of which he branded "absurd"
and many of which he deemed to be outright "dangerous".
"By managing to delete all non-objective proposals by Armenians and
some supportive MEPs, and most of these proposals directly questioning
the sovereignty of Azerbaijan, we could eventually secure our national
interests," he said after the session in Brussels.
"I accepted to withdraw a few amendments tabled by the Azerbaijani
delegation to respect the spirit of cooperation between the European
Parliament and Eastern partner countries yet it doesn't make sense
to have these kind of forums if we can't discuss our problems openly
and find solutions to them", said Suleymanov.
He added his nation remains ready to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh in
any democratic forum but he has no illusions about the challenge his
nation faces. Armenia appeals to what he calls the "so-called common
European Christian legacy" and has effectively used this to rally
support within the EU and the wider international community.
The amendments from the Armenian side included a proposal to open the
borders of occupied territories, which in the case of Nagorno-Karabakh
would have breached "all international standards and practices".
There was also a call for cooperation between the EU and "de facto
authorities" - which is an unacceptable euphemism for occupied
territories; and in the same vein a text describing "conflicts in
Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh" instead of "conflicts affecting Georgia
and Azerbaijan". Categorically rejecting such proposals, Suleymanov
said he would continue to call on the international community to abide
by numerous international resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh based on
the principle of territorial integrity.
Armenia continues to occupy 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory
in the two decades since the war in which 20,000 Azerbaijanis were
killed and more than one million displaced. Suleymanov said despite
the fractious session last week he remains committed to resolving
Nagorno-Karabakh through Euronest PA and other international bodies.
SOURCE Azerbaijan Monitor
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/04/5469010/azerbaijan-fends-off-biased-euronest.html
Sacramento Bee, CA
June 4 2013
By Azerbaijan Monitor
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 4, 2013 - 2:46 am
BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 4, 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ --
Azerbaijan has successfully blocked more than 25 "biased and immoral"
proposals before the Spring Session of the Euronest Parliamentary
Assembly in Brussels that it says threatened its sovereignty and
its "legitimate" bid to regain the Armenian-occupied territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The proposals and amendments had been added to a resolution on
regional security challenges by Armenia and its EU supporters -
an irony not lost in the Azerbaijan delegation since Armenia's
occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh is the dominant regional security
challenge for Azerbaijan.
Chairman of Azerbaijani Delegation to Euronest PA, Elkhan Suleymanov,
managed to block the amendments - some of which he branded "absurd"
and many of which he deemed to be outright "dangerous".
"By managing to delete all non-objective proposals by Armenians and
some supportive MEPs, and most of these proposals directly questioning
the sovereignty of Azerbaijan, we could eventually secure our national
interests," he said after the session in Brussels.
"I accepted to withdraw a few amendments tabled by the Azerbaijani
delegation to respect the spirit of cooperation between the European
Parliament and Eastern partner countries yet it doesn't make sense
to have these kind of forums if we can't discuss our problems openly
and find solutions to them", said Suleymanov.
He added his nation remains ready to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh in
any democratic forum but he has no illusions about the challenge his
nation faces. Armenia appeals to what he calls the "so-called common
European Christian legacy" and has effectively used this to rally
support within the EU and the wider international community.
The amendments from the Armenian side included a proposal to open the
borders of occupied territories, which in the case of Nagorno-Karabakh
would have breached "all international standards and practices".
There was also a call for cooperation between the EU and "de facto
authorities" - which is an unacceptable euphemism for occupied
territories; and in the same vein a text describing "conflicts in
Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh" instead of "conflicts affecting Georgia
and Azerbaijan". Categorically rejecting such proposals, Suleymanov
said he would continue to call on the international community to abide
by numerous international resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh based on
the principle of territorial integrity.
Armenia continues to occupy 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory
in the two decades since the war in which 20,000 Azerbaijanis were
killed and more than one million displaced. Suleymanov said despite
the fractious session last week he remains committed to resolving
Nagorno-Karabakh through Euronest PA and other international bodies.
SOURCE Azerbaijan Monitor
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/04/5469010/azerbaijan-fends-off-biased-euronest.html