During the annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly held in Bucharest on 6-9 October, the members of the Azerbaijani delegation again appeared in anti-Armenian manifestations. This time, however, the Azerbaijani delegation tried to do this by involving Russia, using the NATO Parliamentary Assembly as an anti-Russian platform. The Azerbaijani delegate tried to emphasize the role of Russia in the settlement of the conflicts in the context of the report related to Russia, declaring that Russia provides weapons to Armenia on privileged terms at the expense of credit funds. “Since Russia does not participate in the summit, Azerbaijan’s goal was to show Russia’s negative role”, Edmon Marukyan, a member of the Armenian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, told reporters, adding, “Azerbaijan tries to draw an anti-Russian line against Armenia, but it’s like a double-facedness towards the Russian Federation”.
“To say such things in their absence, and then to go “to make fraternal agreements with them” is ridiculous and dishonest according to Edmon Marukyan.
In response to the accusation of Russian arms sales to Armenia on privileged terms, the Armenian delegation opposed, noting that Azerbaijan acquires offensive weapons from Russia and many other countries.
So, the Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogue-debate is over. European MPs have not responded. They have only urged to quietly discuss the disputable questions. The European delegates are just tired of the so-called clashes. We participate in discussions on the agenda issues, of course we respond to accusations, but we show that our problem is not to respond to Azerbaijan”, said Edmon Marukyan.
During the discussions on stability and security in the Black Sea region, Azerbaijan again tried to raise the issue of its territorial integrity, which was rejected by the Assembly. Prior to that, the same was the case with the Ukrainian delegate’s similar question.
“The report and the draft resolution referred only to countries with access to the Black Sea region, while the Azerbaijani delegation attempted to expand the scope to include the Black Sea region neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan. Their proposal was to expand the Black Sea region and include all conflicts there and set the basis for their settlement solely on the principle of territorial integrity. This approach was rejected on the grounds that the report and the resolution frames covered only the narrow circle of the Black Sea region”, Edmon Marukyan explained.
The final document of the Assembly did not include any formulations worrisome for the Armenian side.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
