Armenian diplomats did everything possible to prevent adoption of the PACE reports by Robert Walter and Milica Markovic, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a press conference in Yerevan on Feb 2.
"I am convinced that it is immoral to throw stones at the diplomats and soldiers defending the border. The number of diplomats and analysts has grown in number in our country. At first they criticize and then they try to substantiate their own criticism," the Armenian minister said.
Nalbandian also touched on the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs' statement on the reports by Walter and Markovic, and stressed that the Co-Chairs' statement about unacceptability to shift the Karabakh peace process to other formats was no surprise for anybody. "The Co-Chairs have repeatedly stressed that the attempts to shift the negotiations to other formats will not only fail to contribute to the process but can also harm the process. Therefore, the Co-Chairs' statement was no surprise and was addressed to Azerbaijan, which is trying to undermine the Karabakh peace process in every possible way. As regards Armenia, it has repeatedly emphasized that it shares the stand of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs," he said.
At the same time, Nalbandian praised the PACE lawmakers for voting against the report by Robert Walter, i.e. for voting for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
As regards the adoption of the report on the Sarsang Reservoir, the Armenian minister pointed out that it was considered by the PACE Committee on Social Affairs despite the fact that the rapporteur was trying to introduce political wordings in the document. "The question is how acceptable the report is if its author has failed to visit the country she has written about notwithstanding the numerous invitations," the minister said.
"Let it be on the conscience of the lawmakers who voted for adoption of the document. Moreover, it is not Armenia but Azerbaijan that states at the highest level that the PACE documents, resolutions and statements are just a piece of paper. We say nothing of the kind. But at the same time, one should not exaggerate the significance of such documents," the diplomat said. In this context, he recalled that earlier Azerbaijan also tried to make PACE adopt similar documents, which had no effect on the peace process.
The Armenian minister stressed that Azerbaijan deliberately take steps that can harm the peace process because its own approaches do not coincide with those of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. "Baku is trying to console its own ambitions. This time it was done at PACE, but to no avail," he said.
On January 26, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted the document based on the report "The inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water" by Milica Markovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina). At the same time, PACE voted not to adopt a resolution on "Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan" based on a report by British former PACE member Robert Walter. The report was presented by Mogens Jensen, as Robert Walter is no longer a PACE member.