[ 03 July 2015 17:20 ]
Baku. Malahat Najafova - APA. Armenia denies entry not only to Robert Walter but also to Milica Markovic, the PACE rapporteur on Sarsang reservoir. PACE was several times appealed for taking serious approach toward the issue, Samad Seyidov, the head of the Azerbaijani Delegation to PACE, told APA.
“PACE should provide appropriate conditions for its rapporteurs. Unfortunately, the Armenian side ignores it. To evade its responsibility and cover up these issues, the head of the Armenian delegation at the latest session said they are investigation the issue regarding Walter and considering the issue of Sarsang reservoir. One year passed since the first one and 1,5 year since the other. They are still investigating one and considering the other. Obviously, this is just a pretext to gain time. I am not surprised by the position of the Armenian side. We have seen it several times. If we took the same steps and banned any rapporteur from enetring Azerbaijan, PACE would issue numerous statements. Where are such statements today? This testifies that the PACE leadership doesn’t take an unbiased position. PACE needs to intervene in this matter very seriously, issue statements and exert pressure on Armenia,” said Seyidov.
As for the possibility of Robert Walter’s visit to occupied territories through Azerbaijan, Samadov said his visit to Nagorno-Karabakh through the territory controlled by Azerbaijan is not a problem for the government.
“Unfortunately, Armenians placed mines there, and “rulers” of Nagorno-Karabakh do what says Armenia. They don’t let anyone who wants to cross into Nagorno-Karabakh through the territory controlled by Azerbaijan. Another option is passing through Armenia. I don’t see anything unusual in Armenia’s delaying the process. They have committed a crime and don’t want to show these lands to anyone in order to cover up the crime. But I am interested in PACE itself. PACE must react immediately to Armenia’s obstacles to its rapporteurs. It is unpleasant that PACE is turning blind eyes to this issue. PACE should change its attitude to avoid possible problems in the future,” Seyidov completed.
