Azerbaijan managed to implement its immediate goal and push through the resolution "Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water" by rapporteur Milica Markovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Consequently, he believes that the statements of the diplomatic victory of the Armenian authorities are mere words.
On February 2, Levon Zurabyan, the head of the Armenian National Congress opposition faction, told reporters.
Baku's maximum goal was adoption of rapporteur Robert Walter's resolution "Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan" by PACE, which was failed only thanks to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group. Nevertheless, Azerbaijan achieved its immediate goal, as in Markovic's resolution Armenia is called an occupant and Artsakh is not mentioned as a separate unit. Zurabyan calls the situation a shameful defeat. He is sure that the Armenian authorities made three serious mistakes: they let Artsakh being ousted from the negotiation process, failed to implemented a coordinated single policy and did not prevent the allegations the Armenian delegates made against PACE members. "The delegates that supported Markovic's resolution motivated their decision with Armenia's destructive approach. In the course of the discussions at the PACE commission I had to say that it is not fair to punish Armenia for the behaviors of the delegates," he said.
On January 26, PACE approved the resolution entitled "Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water" (rapporteur Milica Markovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina). 98 MPs voted for, 71 MPs voted against and 40 MPs abstained from voting. On the same day, PACE rejected the anti- Armenian resolution "Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan" (rapporteur Robert Walter, UK).