Baku, Azerbaijan, November 2
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Aurelia Bouchez has made a special statement, saying that France fully supports and recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Samad Seyidov, Head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Committee on International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations told Trend.
Seyidov was commenting on the recent illegal visits of several French mayors to the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and signing certain "documents”.
"Ambassador Bouchez stressed that the papers signed during these visits have no legal force. During the recent visit to the region of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, various documents and project agreement were signed in Georgia, an economic forum was held in Azerbaijan, but not a single issue was put on the agenda in Armenia, apart from talks on general topics," Seyidov said.
"Germany also unequivocally recognizes, supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and calls on Armenia to resolve this conflict in the framework of international laws. I will give another example: the EU has repeatedly stated that it recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan. However, there is also the following aspect. During the period of Sargsyan’s rule, the EU allocated seven million euros for election held in Armenia. It was mentioned in the address made the EU after the election that the votes were fabricated, the election was rigged and held in a biased way. And now Pashinyan has appealed to the EU so that the funds would be allocated for holding election in December,” he said.
Seyidov noted that at first glance it may appear that Pashinyan, who intends to build a "democratic Armenia," should be allocated major funds.
"Because the government of Sargsyan was a regime mired in corruption, eventually thrown by the Armenian people into the dustbin of history. The EU has allocated three million euros for the election to the Pashinyan’s government, that is, two times less than at the previous election. Because the official Yerevan has already lost confidence, and no one believes Pashinyan’s statements, the work of his government, and the policy conducted by him,” Seyidov said.
Seyidov added that recently, Pashinyan asked for one billion euros for the Armenian economy and other activities in the country from the EU.
"It was ridiculous, and no one was going and is going to give them any money. As a result, the position of the EU, France, Germany, the US and Russia, as well as the tripartite meetings held in Istanbul on October 29-30, and the voiced statements suggest that the isolation of Armenia in the region is deepening, its policy is failing, the forces in the region, on which Armenia pinned its hopes, also support Azerbaijan’s position based on international laws,” he said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
