Mevlut Cavusoglu once again impedes PACE Armenian delegation work

PanARMENIAN.Net - New impediments are being created in the activities of Armenian delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

As the member of the Armenian delegation to PACE Naira Zohrabyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, during a Q&A session with a Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayipp Erdogan at PACE, Armenian delegation members had their names put in a list for asking a question, yet were not allowed to fulfil their right.

“I and the member of the Armenian delegation Zaruhi Postanjyan were 3rd and 4th in the list. However, as it turned out later, our names were taken to the bottom of the list, and we never managed to ask Prime Minister our questions,” she said.

According to her, Armenian delegation addressed the PACE secretariat with a request to explain the reasons behind the incident. At the secretariat, Armenian parliamentarians were told that according to Assembly regulations, PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu has a full right to shift the order in the list if an invited guest is making a statement at PACE.

Ms. Zohrabyan is certain that such a behaviour at PACE is a politically outrageous step. “Depriving us of a chance to ask a question, Cavusoglu actually saved the Turkish Prime Minister from our pointed questions. This is another proof of the fact that Cavusoglu is not acting as a PACE President, but rather as a Turkish official, who took the position to promote his country's interests in PACE,” she stressed.

Despite artificial impediments, Ms. Zohrabyan managed to approach the Turkish Prime Minister and hand him an album containing photographs of children – Armenian Genocide victims. Erdogan glanced at the album and stated that if Armenian side continues to insist on its position, Turkey will also find some photos to show. Further, Turkish Prime Minister's bodyguards accompanied Erdogan out of the hall, shoving Armenian delegations members aside.