British-Nagorno Karabakh All-Party Parliamentary Group was launched in UK House of Lords

PanARMENIAN.Net - New "British-Nagorno Karabakh All-Party Parliamentary Group" was launched in Committee Room 2 of the House of Lords, British Parliament.

The instigator is Viscount John Desmond Waverley, a former member of the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group, who is engaged now in creating a Parliamentary Group for a country to which he cannot gain entrance but was able to visit in 1996 only when he posed as a dedicated member of the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group and was welcomed by the Karabakh Authorities , upon the Armenian Group`s recommendation .



In the British Parliament, hundreds of Parliamentary Groups are founded by Parliamentarians who declare their interest in the most varied issues. By initiating the British-Nagorno Karabakh All-Party Parliamentary Group , Lord Waverley and Baroness Symons have acknowledged the existence of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh , obviously aware of the fact that during a Referendum in 1991 the people of Nagorno-Karabakh declared their independence and have , since then, held five presidential and four parliamentary elections confirmed by International Observers to be in compliance with International Electoral Standards and with utmost transparency.



It is of grave concern to the Armenian Group that Baroness Symons and Lord Waverley have contacted neither the Elected Representatives of Nagorno Karabakh, nor the Armenian Embassy in UK nor the Committee Members of the Armenian Parliamentary Group to receive accurate information about the situation in that country. By not including the Karabakh Authorities participation, all their future statements will lack accuracy and will create a unique precedent in the annals of the British Parliament: initiating a Parliamentary Group without its subject being involved in the process!



Lord Waverley and Baroness Symons must bear full responsibility and face the consequences of the great danger that any inadequately informed statement by their Group might harm, delay or jeopardize the current process of peaceful settlement advocated by the International Organizations who are engaged in the possible resolution of this very complex conflict. Organizations to which Britain is an active and concerned Member.



The Armenian Group would welcome the cooperation of this newly formed Group with its Members, with the Members of the Parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Diplomatic Corps of the Armenian Embassy and would encourage active correspondence, exchange of policy and information by facilitating a visit to Karabakh of British Parliamentarians (including Members of the Karabakh Group), where they will be able to obtain the true understanding of that country, its culture, history and aspirations.