“We need to reach a situation where Armenia and Azerbaijan do not take so much time from the Assembly, arguing over the facts,” he said in a conversation with Aravot.am in response to our various questions about why Azerbaijan has not yet taken responsibility for the phosphorus attack against Artsakh. To use weapons and why there are no records about it in his report, this is how the British PACE delegate John Howell responded. During the PACE plenary session, he presented a report on the “Environmental Impact of Armed Conflicts.”
To our question, how do you imagine reducing tension in the South Caucasus? The British delegate answered: “The first thing I want to say is the cessation of tension in Armenia and Azerbaijan. I have known both countries well for many years. And the worst thing is that this dispute is still going on. Therefore, I call for an urgent end to this crisis and tension so that both sides can work together sincerely. In my opinion, it is necessary to achieve a cessation of tension as urgently as possible. We need to reach a situation where Armenia and Azerbaijan do not take much time from the Assembly to argue about the facts.”
John Howell avoided answering our question: why has Azerbaijan not been held accountable for using phosphorous weapons until now? To our reminder, the German Foreign Minister stated that the European observation mission would make sense if access from Azerbaijan also existed. At the same time, Azerbaijan refuses, so how does he imagine the solution to the issue in this situation? John Howell answered: “I am not German; Great Britain is no longer a part of the European Union. My approach is that it is urgent to stop the tension and move forward.
We wondered why in his report, he did not separately refer to Azerbaijan’s aggression against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh and why there is no record that Azerbaijan used phosphorous weapons and was not punished, John Howell did not want to answer these questions in any way. He emphasized again that his approach is an urgent cessation of tension.
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
