Written declaration No. 494 | Doc. 12755 | 05 October 2011

Armenia's policy towards undermining the solution of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh

Author(s): several Assembly Members

Signatories: Ms Ganira PASHAYEVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Aydin ABBASOV, Azerbaijan, SOC ; Ms Pelin Gündeş BAKIR, Turkey ; Mr Ahmet Berat ÇONKAR, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Paata DAVITAIA, Georgia, EDG ; Mr Şaban DİŞLİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Tülin ERKAL KARA, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Sabir HAJIYEV, Azerbaijan, SOC ; Mr Fazail İBRAHIMLI, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Mr Zmago JELINČIČ PLEMENITI, Slovenia, EDG ; Mr Burhan KAYATÜRK, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Nursuna MEMECAN, Turkey, ALDE ; Mr Fazil MUSTAFA, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Mr Pasquale NESSA, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Rovshan RZAYEV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Mr Samad SEYIDOV, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Ahmet Kutalmiş TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Tuğrul TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Luigi VITALI, Italy, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

1. Armenia continues its policy of military occupation of 20% of the internationally recognised territory of Azerbaijan, another Council of Europe member state. Assembly Resolution 1416 (2005) reflects this occupation, calling on Armenia to withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

2. Nevertheless, having consciously ignored again the relevant Council of Europe and United Nations resolutions, Armenia organised municipal elections on 18 September 2011 in the so-called unrecognised Nagorno Karabakh Republic, an illegal regime established in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. Besides contradicting international law and the international resolutions on the conflict, the aforesaid elections strongly damage the very sensitive ongoing negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia and strain the situation in the region. These elections have also been strongly condemned by most international organisations.

3. Consequently, we resolutely condemn the above-mentioned elections, call on the Armenian authorities to hold a constructive position in the negotiation process by obeying the international legal norms, and to stop such destructive and unlawful actions which contradict international law and the relevant international resolutions and strongly undermine and impede the negotiation process towards a solution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, thus causing tensions the situation in the region.