Armenian Parliament weighs a statement on PACE rapporteur Robert Walter's report "Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan" and its putting on agenda of the PACE January Session. Galust Sahakyan, Armenian Parliament Speaker made such statement in response to the suggestion by Aghvan Vardanyan,
Secretary of ARFD Party Faction, to discuss a possible statement on the above report with the heads of the parliamentary factions.
Sahakyan said the Parliament is working out also other steps to counteract the initiatives of the Turkish- Azerbaijani tandem at PACE.
"We are dealing with the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem at PACE. We have no problems with the Organization. Obviously, the Armenian delegation is unable to counteract the powerful lobby of those two countries, and consolidated actions are needed," Sahakyan said.
To recall, on November 4, the PACE Political Affairs Committee approved the "Escalation of Violence in Nagorno- Karabakh and Other Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan" report prepared by rapporteur Robert Walter (United Kingdom). Thus, the document is on the agenda of PACE's January session despite the Armenian Delegation's objections. The decision was taken with 26 pros, 10 cons and 4 abstentions. Earlier the Armenian Delegation has repeatedly expressed its indignation at the biased wordings in the report. The Armenian delegates also urged PACE not to touch on the Karabakh problem at all, because the problem is dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Group professional format and any debates outside that format could hamper the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. However, the Armenian Delegations' arguments have been neglected.