European diplomats became over-cautious about visits to Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - European diplomats became over-cautious about visits to Nagorno Karabakh, head of the Armenian delegation to PACE, Davit Harutyunyan told a news conference in Yerevan.



"Frequent cancellations of visits came as result of Azeri lobby's pressure and Europeans' cautiousness. But it doesn't mean that the Armenian side is inactive. We have warned that the route Azerbaijan proposes is not safe and the issue should be discussed with Nagorno Karabakh," he noted.



Mr Harutyunyan also informed that the Armenian delegation to PACE initiated discussion on violation of the European Cultural Convention by Azerbaijan.



"The Convention bans from posing obstacles for visits to cultural and historical sites. However, missions of international organizations meet groundless rejections from Azerbaijan. We state that it's violation of the Convention. We addressed the CoE Committee of Ministers with a request to take action," he said, IA Regnum reports.



Late August the Azeri authorities ruined the visit of a mission expected to examine the state of historical monuments in the republic. The visit of Edward O'Hara, rapporteur of the PACE Subcommittee on Cultural Heritage, has been cancelled several times already. It was scheduled for May 2006 but later postponed to the autumn 2006 and then to spring and autumn 2007.