AZERBAIJAN DISPLEASED WITH PACE RESOLUTION
European Union's call to start negotiations with Nagorno-Karabakh is considered threatening in Baku.
According to the press-service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia official Yerevan has a series of pretensions to PACE resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, judging by the publications in Azerbaijan press, in Baku they are also unhappy about the resolution and the report itself.
Pro-governmental mass media resources of Azerbaijan try to portray the resolution as a major achievement of Azerbaijan diplomacy. However, more or less free papers have to note that the document contains extremely undesirable points for Azerbaijan. For instance "Zerkalo" paper writes that the most undesirable for Azerbaijan was the adoption of amendment which says that official Baku needs to "establish contacts without preconditions with the political representatives of both communities from Nagorno-Karabakh region regarding the future status of the region". It is worth mentioning that the amendment was initiated by David Atkinson himself and not by the Armenian party as it is mentioned in "Zerkalo" paper. The amendment consisted in adding the phrase "without preconditions".
Baku press criticized also the reporter David Atkinson who supposedly held a pro-Armenian position during discussions. Azerbaijan journalists qualify Atkinson's speech as contradictious and not very pleasant for Azerbaijan. They particularly note the following words of the reporter: "I will never forget the bombs that fell on Stepanakert " (Atkinson was in Karabakh in 1992 with baroness Caroline Cocks). In Baku they are also quite indignant about Atkinson's statement that "the solution of the problem cannot be imposed on the people of Karabakh without their knowledge". The members of Azerbaijan delegation in PACE are displeased with the fact that not all the speakers supported their position. They especially mention the "pro-Armenian" speech of the French parliamentarian François Rosheblois. At the same time they admire the deputy from Bulgaria Evgeni Kirilov who helped to turn down the proposal of Armenian party to change the wording "separatist forces". Baku press also mentions that the resolution cannot have any consequences for Armenia. "It should not be forgotten that the document is not obligatory and does not suppose any sanctions against Armenia in case of non-fulfillment. The same can actually be said about all the other PACE documents.", "Zerkalo" paper writes.
It is easy to understand why the Azerbaijani are so embarrassed by the point that contains the call to establish contacts with the leadership of "Armenian community" of Karabakh. At first sight this point looks quite favorable for Azerbaijan, since it approves the Azerbaijan version about the existence of two communities equal in rights. But the fulfillment of this demand means that Ilham Aliev will have to enter into negotiations with the president of NKR Arkadi Ghukasyan although he will have another status. After a year PACE will return to considering issue and at that time the Azerbaijani will have to answer why they didn't fulfill the call. It will be a hard job to find explanations since the phrase "without preconditions" is included in the document text. In the next winter session PACE will check which of the points of resolutions are non-fulfilled and which party has neglected the requirements of the passed document. And here Azerbaijan may have serious troubles.
Baku press criticized also the reporter David Atkinson who supposedly held a pro-Armenian position during discussions. Azerbaijan journalists qualify Atkinson's speech as contradictious and not very pleasant for Azerbaijan. They particularly note the following words of the reporter: "I will never forget the bombs that fell on Stepanakert " (Atkinson was in Karabakh in 1992 with baroness Caroline Cocks). In Baku they are also quite indignant about Atkinson's statement that "the solution of the problem cannot be imposed on the people of Karabakh without their knowledge". The members of Azerbaijan delegation in PACE are displeased with the fact that not all the speakers supported their position. They especially mention the "pro-Armenian" speech of the French parliamentarian François Rosheblois. At the same time they admire the deputy from Bulgaria Evgeni Kirilov who helped to turn down the proposal of Armenian party to change the wording "separatist forces". Baku press also mentions that the resolution cannot have any consequences for Armenia. "It should not be forgotten that the document is not obligatory and does not suppose any sanctions against Armenia in case of non-fulfillment. The same can actually be said about all the other PACE documents.", "Zerkalo" paper writes.
It is easy to understand why the Azerbaijani are so embarrassed by the point that contains the call to establish contacts with the leadership of "Armenian community" of Karabakh. At first sight this point looks quite favorable for Azerbaijan, since it approves the Azerbaijan version about the existence of two communities equal in rights. But the fulfillment of this demand means that Ilham Aliev will have to enter into negotiations with the president of NKR Arkadi Ghukasyan although he will have another status. After a year PACE will return to considering issue and at that time the Azerbaijani will have to answer why they didn't fulfill the call. It will be a hard job to find explanations since the phrase "without preconditions" is included in the document text. In the next winter session PACE will check which of the points of resolutions are non-fulfilled and which party has neglected the requirements of the passed document. And here Azerbaijan may have serious troubles.
