National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia | Official Web Site

The Head of the RA NA Delegation Hermine Naghdalyan:

“Dear colleagues,

Today, the migration crisis is one of the most important challenges that Europe is facing. More than one million migrants fleeing from war, conflict or persecution are looking for a better future in other countries. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) this is the highest number since World War II. Wars in Syria and Iraq, regional conflicts and crises in Afghanistan, in the Middle East and in some African countries have triggered the dramatic increase in the flow of refugees fleeing from these regions to Europe. Last March, the European Union and Turkey reached an agreement to stem the flow of migrants arriving on the Greek coast. According to this agreement, Turkey must receive more than 6 billion euros until the end of 2018 to cover the costs of dealing with the influx of refugees. Reached under almost open blackmail of Turkey this agreement is being heavily criticised for various reasons.The country receives billions of euros to manage migration flows, which are generated in part by the actions of the Islamic state.On the other hand, according to media reports, there are claims that Turkey is financially supporting Islamic State by purchasing oil from the terrorist group at low prices. The Daily Mail reported on August 25, 2014 that many foreigners have joined the terrorist organization in Syria and Iraq after traveling through Turkey.

Thus Turkey appears to be a "hub" of the terrorist organization.

Today, the Islamic state is declining in Syria. This is encouraging. However, there are worrying signs that the ISIS would aim to destabilize other regions, including the South Caucasus.

As you well know on 2 April Azerbaijan unleashed a large scale aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh. Many medias have reported the participation of the Islamic State fighters in the ranks of the Azerbaijani army. May be presence and guidance of these thugs could explain barbaric acts of violence committed by Azeri forces during four days of war. Thelist of war crimes includes bombardment of civilian objects, schools with heavy rocket launchers, killing and mutilating civilians, children and elderly people, ISIS style beheading of already dead soldiers and showing off heads to cheering public. For the moment senseless bloodshed in Nagorno-Karabakh was stopped due to courageof the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, credible fears remain on possible expansion of ISIS to new regions that will definitely bring new wars and tragedies. Concluding I would add my voice to those calling to combine efforts in fighting terrorism in all its forms, to take furthermeasures to deal with radicalisation and hate speech, and to make understand some high ranking rabid racists that war is not option, that tolerance is an attribute of the strong.

The member of the RA NA Delegation Naira Zohrabyan

“Dear colleagues,

During the night of April 1-2 along the whole Line of Contact of Karabakh-Azerbaijani armed forces Azerbaijan, using heavy military equipment: tanks, Heavy Flamethrower TOS-1A system, Smerch and air force, launched large-scale military operations, bombarding not only the Line of Contact with Nagorno Karabakh, but also the peaceful settlements. And again we see killed soldiers, a child going home from school, who was killed before his brother’s eyes. The Azerbaijani armed forces tortured and beheaded prisoners of war and combatants, and all that before the eye of the civilized world. Moreover, when Azerbaijan’s armed forces succeeded to take the village of Talish of Nagorno Karabakh under its control for only a day, Aliyev’s mercenaries tortured and severely killed the civilians, who had remained in the village. And during those hours, when Aliyev’s mercenaries were committing military crimes, PACE President Pedro Agramunt was supporting the terrorist Azerbaijan in his known statement. At the moment, when the Azerbaijani armed forces were firing the peaceful settlements, our Assembly President, who is ex-officio obliged to maintain impartiality and neutrality, was encouraging the military criminals in his statement.

Dear colleagues,

The fact that the incumbent PACE President Pedro Agramunt is Azerbaijan’s official representative in our Assembly is a known truth. During the days of the military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan PACE President behaved himself as Ilham Aliyev’s spokesperson. In the history of PACE it is unprecedented when the Assembly President is involved not in the interests of PACE, but rather the obvious protection of a separate country. After being elected PACE President, paying first visit to Azerbaijan, Agramunt with that step expressed his next adherence to Aliyev’s tyranny. And during the hardest days of the military operations Agramunt makes a statement which obviously encourages Aliyev’s murderous regime.

Dear colleagues,

The Council of Europe is an organization of 47 countries which is to present and protect 800 million Europeans’ interests. The President of such a most serious structure shall be impartial and unbiased, but not a person, who publicly protects the dictatorship , encouraging the criminal Azerbaijan. In our Assembly it is an unprecedented situation, when the press secretary of Azerbaijan’s President is on President’s chair.

And one more important problem about the consequences of which we were warning. When during the last session most of you voted for Sarsang Reservoir, as a humanitarian problem, after Azerbaijan’s military aggression I hope you understood that Azerbaijan’s goal had not been resolving a humanitarian problem, but the seizure of Sarsang. And that was why it was important to receive your support in the international structures and PACE for committing military crime under humanitarian goal. Watch the Azerbaijani military forces’ move during those days of war, and you will realize that also by your voting you gave that carte-blanche to Azerbaijan.”

The member of the RA NA Delegation Samvel Farmanyan:

“Mr. Chairman, Distinguished colleagues,

Almost two months have passed since the last part-session of the Assembly. And we discuss here what has been done in this period of time. Evidently our values have been brutally and cynically attacked, first in the very heart of Europe – bloody terror attacks in Brussels, and then on the southeastern shore of our continent - in Nagorno-Karabakh where Azerbaijan unleashed a large-scale military aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh violating international humanitarian law and committing war crimes. Let me join the words of sympathy addressed to the families of all victims. I also join the voices of those hundreds of thousands of people who marched yesterday in Brussels and in different capitals of Europe and the globe since the bloody escalation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh calling for peace.

The progress report refers to one of the notorious discussions we had here in January. Let me recall, Chairman, that the voices against the controversial reports by Robert Walter and Milica Markovic in this very hemi-cycle were based on the tangible assumption that any attempt to approve groundless and one-sided resolutions or any selective application to the principles of international law will only damage the peace process and serve as smokescreen for the Azerbaijani autocratic leadership to resume large scale military actions undermining the peace process and threatening fragile stability in the entire region of South Caucasus. While raising concerns we had in mind such development of the events that happened afterwards and unfortunately, our concerns became to be a kind of bad prediction that cost hundreds of innocent lives from all sides of the conflict.

While considering this progress report, colleagues, we can’t jump over the efforts the permanent bodies of the Assembly have taken or rather mistaken regarding this tragedy. A repeatedly clear message was delivered to Azerbaijani leadership since the very birth of escalation that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the conflict and that war is not an option. Presidents of France, United States, Russia, heads of dozens of other countries and hundreds of foreign ministries, Secretary Generals of the UN, OSCE, CoE, high-level officials of EU, dozens of other international organizations joint their voice and reputation to deliver that unequivocal and uncompromising message to President Aliev to stop military aggression.

While increasingly strong and univocal message of the international community to Aliev was a window of hope for peace to avoid further escalation of the situation, irresponsible rhetoric of Mr. Agramunt, came to contradict our Assembly to the international community this time not by ignorance of excessive human rights violations in Azerbaijan but by his exceptionally dangerous wording clearly siding himself with Azerbaijan in that particularly fragile situation. Unfortunately, Mr. Agramunt's statement came to once again question his impartiality as President of the Assembly and empowers media reports about his alleged engagement in Azerbaijani lobbying structures seriously damaging Assembly’s image in the eyes of millions of Europeans and all members of our House of Democracy.

Thank you.”