“They are guided by the principle of the best defense is the good offense” such opinion was expressed by the member of the Armenian delegation in PACE, Naira Zohrabyan, in the conversation with Aravot.am, referring to the draft of resolution prepared by Azerbaijan delegation member to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), Elkhan Suleymanov, according to which the author is demanding to impose sanctions against Armenia’s delegation. The draft resolution elaborated by the Azerbaijani delegate is signed by 58 PACE delegates. The message is directed to the PACE President Anne Brasseur, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland, and the PACE Secretary General Volchek Savitski. The resolution reads that “based on the fact that Armenia continues “occupying” the “Azeri territories”, hence, a demand is introduced in the draft resolution to impose sanctions on the Armenian delegation in PACE. The draft resolution reads that with regard to events in Ukraine, on April 10, 2014, the PACE has made a decision on imposing sanctions on Russia, and that similar sanctions should be applied also to the Armenian delegation. Ms. Zohrabyan advised not to raise a big fuss about this initiative since the Azerbaijani delegation has acted with similar absurd initiatives at various international instances. Further, she detailed. “The initiative belongs to the Elkhan Suleymanov. He is the head of the Azerbaijani delegation in EURONEST. When you look at the list of delegates who signed the initiative, it becomes obvious to all of us that they are Azerbaijan lobbyists. Whereas any delegation may find a few dozen of deputies among more than 600 PACE members, who can sign underneath any stupidity.” Naira Zohrabyan is “almost one hundred percent” confident that this initiative will not get into process. With this regard, Ms. Zohrabyan said, “The respective PACE Commission and the Bureau will not give a process to this initiative. Still before assuming the presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, on April, Aliyev announced that on the June session, they will raise the question of the powers of the Armenian delegation, and naturally, it should be followed by this initiative.” Ms. Zohrabyan, surpassing the events, predicted, “On Monday, 10 or more members out of 58, because the necessary minimum is ten, will stand up at the beginning of the meeting when the national delegations mandate is reaffirmed, and will say that they are disputing the question of the powers for the Armenian delegation. This means that the issue will be transferred to the statutory commission, which according to appropriate procedure, next Wednesday or Thursday, during the session, will discuss the issue. However, I take on the responsibility to announce that the statutory commission will not give any action to this proposal and will announce that imposing sanction on Armenian delegation and not approving the mandate is not substantiated in any way. I believe that the PACE has not lost its sense of thinking.” Naira Zohrabyan considered this a “hysterical fuss” and noted, “The PACE is planning to impose serious sanctions on Azerbaijan, for example, for not convoking any session of committees and commissions in Baku for two years. When a country assumes the Presidency in the Committee of Ministers, a number of events are held in Strasbourg under the flag and coat of arms of the said country, and a tramway is run under the coat of arms of the said country. But the Strasbourg municipality has removed all of that because of the anti-democratic situation in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan knows very well that during the very speech of Aliyev, on June 24, they will address their most serious questions to this respect.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
