“In general, they try to blur the topics in different ways, and this is one of the manifestations,” according to Aravot.am, the Azerbaijani delegation at the PACE organized a discussion on the issue of mined areas outside the plenary sessions. Is this considered a response to the debate about the issue of political prisoners? Because Azerbaijan also presents mirror claims against Armenia in the ECHR, Ruben Rubinyan, the head of the Armenian delegation to the PACE, answered. He noted that this format of discussions is of little importance; according to him, it will have a different effect on the Azerbaijani delegation.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock mentioned that in addition to the war in Ukraine, the situation related to the blockade of the Lachine Corridor is also at the center of their attention: so we asked, taking into account this context and the meetings they had in Strasbourg, is it possible to predict that the Lachine Corridor will be opened in the coming days, Ruben Rubinyan answered: “Forecasting is a thankless task. We are doing our job and trying to increase the pressure as much as possible, hoping it will naturally bring results.”
Ruben Rubinyan answered the question: what can be expected from the discussion on Lachin, which will take place tomorrow, especially since no document will be adopted after that discussion? “Yes, due to the debate format, a document is not planned; the procedure is like that. The document provides the format of the urgent discussion on the Ukrainian issue. There could be only one topic, and it would be difficult to include our question in that discussion. But there are other mechanisms to lead to a resolution, and we are working in that direction. And from the discussion, we expect that the representatives of all political groups and in all the speeches will clearly state that the Lachin Corridor should be opened.”
We reminded him that Azerbaijan insists that this corridor is open, and Ruben Rubinyan responded. “As you can see, even the fact that the discussion entered the agenda under the title of Lachin Corridor blockade means that PACE believes that there is a Lachin Corridor blockade. It is documented. I think this in itself is already a great success.”
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According to Ruben Rubinyan, Azerbaijanis are trying to deny this already accepted fact in order to hide their criminal policy. “They are trying to ensure that everyone does not know that the corridor is closed. But it didn’t work out, which is good.”
We reminded Ruben Rubinyan that the re-elected PACE President Tiny Kox did not say a single word about the blockade of the Lachin Corridor or Azerbaijan’s aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, so how does he imagine cooperation with him? Rubinyan answered: “It’s too bad that he didn’t say it, but we are working with all our partners to be more active on this issue.”
During the voting on organizing a discussion on the blockade of Lachin Corridor, 13 PACE deputies were against it, and 13 abstained, so we asked Ruben Rubinyan who they were; he answered: “There were MPs from Azerbaijan, Turkey, two MPs from Romania, one from Italy, and one Irish MP who accidentally voted against. We talked to him, and he said he voted against it accidentally, although it was clear even without talking. Some 13 abstainers were from Serbia, and others were from Ukraine. But it was a tiny number. Ninety-one deputies voted in favor”.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
Strasbourg
