Friday, November 14 2014

Dr. Eleni Theocharous, MPE, Head of the Cypriot delegation of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Co-Chair of the EU-Armenia friendship group, has addressed a letter to President of European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker over the latest Azerbaijani provocation.  

The letter is as follows, "Your Excellency, I am sending this letter to you in order to raise an issue in which the EU has a strong role to play as a stabilising factor of the regional and global system. By definition, such a role should be in line with its values and principles and also aim at consolidating stability and peace.   

On November 12, 2014, the Azeri Military Forces shot down an unarmed helicopter of the Nagorno-Karabakh (NKR) Defence Army. The helicopter was on a training flight as part of the announced military drills on the Easter section of the Line of Contact between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan. The fate of the crew members remains unknown because of the Azerbaijan's continued shootings and therefore the rescue operation seems to be very complicated. 

This incident is the most serious one since the Cease-Fire Agreement signed in 1994 between Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Azerbaijan has caused a major outbreak of hostilities this summer, but its President has agreed to seek only peaceful means of resolution at separate face-to-face meetings with his Armenian counterpart, sponsored by the Presidents of Russia and France and the U.S. Secretary of State. However, on November 12, by shooting down the NKR Defence Army helicopter, Azerbaijan violated the agreement for a cease-fire and put the stability of the region at risk.

Your Excellency, I have read the statement issued by the EU on November 12, 2014 about the incident mentioned above and I consider that we can do something more. I propose to organise an ad hoc mission to examine on the ground what really happened. What is evident is that the government of Azerbaijan has violated the cease-fire and three innocent people have rather lost their lives. The EU should condemn this action and support the efforts for the solution of the problem on the basis of the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh (article 1 paragraph 2 of the UN Charter)".

To recall, the Azerbaijani armed forces downed an Armenian Mi-24 while it was conducting a training flight near the Line on Contact on 12 November. Three officers of the NKR Armed Forces, Sergey Sahakyan, Sargis Nazaryan and Azat Sahakyan, were on board. The NKR State Committee for POWs, Captives and the Missing has requested the ICRC assistance in returning the crewmembers of the downed helicopter. The Azeri officer that shot the helicopter down has been awarded a medal.