PACE head regrets no visible help to Karabakh conflict solution

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Pedro Agramunt expressed regret over PACE’s inability to visibly contribute to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement in 2016.

He was addressing a PACE winter plenary part-session that kicked off in Strasbourg on January 23.

Agramunt also reminded about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s escalation in April 2016, adding that the situation remains explosive.

He said that conflicts cannot be solved by military means, and the PACE is an important tool for dialogue on their peaceful solution.

Earlier Agramunt made a proposal to hold a meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations within the PACE.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.