The winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) to be held in January has prepared numerous unpleasant surprises for the Armenian delegation. In addition to the fact that the Karabakh problematic issue is going to be discussed, the report on Sarsang reservoir may also be included in the agenda, two non-Armenophile appointments are expected. Particularly, the Spanish parliamentarian Pedro Agramunt known for his anti-Armenian stance, most likely, will become the President of PACE. It is this delegate that was doing his utmost to include the term of “Nagorno-Karabakh’s occupation” in the report about the Azerbaijan’s democratic institutions.
The other non-Armenophile appointment might be the fact that the head of the conservative group to PACE could become the Chairman of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE Samad Seyidov. In an interview with Aravot.am, a member of the Armenian delegation to PACE, leader of the PAP party, Naira Zohrabyan, stressed that there will be no voting for the president of PACE because it is a matter of political agreement and now it is the right EPP to introduce its nominee for the president general. As predicted, Agramunt is the winner. In January, according to the gentleman agreement, it is the EPP quote’s turn, and Agramunt will preside the PACE.
To our question about the failure of the Armenian delegation that such candidates are nominated, Ms. Zohrabyan replied, “If I speak again about the caviar diplomacy and Azerbaijani lobby, some activists in our political arena will re-direct arrows in the direction of the PACE delegation, teenagers’ exhortations will be made such as Hovhannes Igityan’s exhortation that it was necessary to write a letter to the PACE delegates and work with them. Well, hi to everybody, probably we could not guess that it was necessary to write a letter, to work with them and meet with them. If it were only to write a letter, the issues would be long ago resolved. Everything is done long ago, moreover, even the thousand-fold that could not even occur to the mind of Mr. Igityan and the ones who are constantly giving us admonitions.”
Naira Zohrabyan assures that if today Brzezinski is a member of the Armenian delegation, it will be very difficult to change anything in the current session. Ms. Zohrabyan urged instead of giving such teenagers’ admonitions, it would be better if everyone minds its own business. Naira Zohrabyan assured, “We know our job very well.” To our observation that the observations of those who voice discontent about the Armenian delegation refer also to the fact that they do not speak a foreign language, they often speak Russian, Ms. Zohrabyan responded, “Those who make such statements can make a little effort and enter the PACE website, where all the speeches are posted, and if they find a speech in Russian by any member of the Armenian delegation, I am ready to accept their remarks. Although Russian is one of the working languages of PACE, we could easily deliver a speech in this language, but Armen Rustamyan, Mher Shahgeldyan and I speak only French, while the other delegates, including Hermine Naghdalyan, speak English.”
Read also
Back to the fear of Samad Seyidov’s appointment as a head of the conservatives, Ms. Zohrabyan said that she hopes that the Seyidov will not be elected but the British candidate, although the Turks and Azerbaijanis are the main members of the conservatives group. To our question about her being confident, Naira Zohrabyan responded that the British also make a huge number among the conservatives.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
