Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has condemned the statement of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbadian made at the PACE summer session.

Head of the Azerbaijani delegation, Samad Seyidov, discussed at a Monitoring Committee meeting the biased statement of the Armenian foreign minister, which was raised on the first day of the PACE session.

"In my speech, I thoroughly discussed the false and biased statements of the head of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, expressed on the first day of the PACE summer session," Seyidov said. "The Azerbaijani delegation considers the minister's speech as unforgivable because an attempt was made to spread false ideas inherent to Armenia among the MPs, by using such a high position. Actually, this action must be regarded as an open provocation against Azerbaijan."

Seyidov also said that the committee members consider the Armenian minister's statement as provocative and point out that these remarks are inadmissible.

The Monitoring Committee members urged the Azerbaijani delegation not to give in to the provocative statements, but to exercise patience.

Baku has criticized Nalbadian's statement. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told Trend news agency that the statement made by Nalbandian while addressing the European MPs differs from Yerevan's actual deeds.

He noted that actions such as the intensification of confidence building measures announced by the Armenian minister were blocked and are still being blocked by Yerevan.

Abdullayev said Armenia has already used force by occupying 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory and exposing the local population to bloody ethnic cleansing.

"Armenia is responsible for the tense situation in the region today and for the security of the region being under threat," he said. "Yerevan must seriously think about its aggressive policy."

Over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since a lengthy war between the two South Caucasus countries in the early 1990s. The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions calling for an Armenian pullout, but they have not been enforced to date.

Negotiations are underway on the basis of the peace outline dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons to return home.