Title of the “Escalation of violence in Nagorno Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan” report by rapporteur of the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, Robert Walter,  reflects the position of only one party to the conflict, i.e. Azerbaijan, thus clearly pre-determining its content and conclusions. 

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR; Artsakh) Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Armine Aleksanyan, noted the aforementioned speaking to RFE/RL Armenian Service.

To the query on what was the Karabakh side’s response to the PACE rapporteur, who had “appealed to the authorities of Nagorno Karabakh, asking to assist in visiting Nagorno Karabakh for preparing a report entitled ‘Escalation of violence in Nagorno Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan,’” Aleksanyan responded: “Indeed, on September 22, Rapporteur of PACE Robert Walter sent a letter to the NKR authorities asking to assist in visiting Artsakh. In response we communicated to Mr. Walter the position of the NKR on the issue.

“We think that the title of the report reflects the position of only one party to the conflict, i.e. Azerbaijan, thus clearly pre-determining its content and conclusions. In our opinion, such an approach violates the basic principles of the preparation of reports of the Council of Europe, which are impartiality and neutrality, and becomes an obstacle to the cooperation with the authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

“In addition, the report will also address the political and military aspects of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict. In this regard it was underlined that issues related to the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict are dealt within an agreed format, which has a mandate for mediation recognized by the international community. Such a format agreed by all three parties to the conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, which has accumulated the necessary experience and expertise to professionally and consistently do its job on an institutional basis.”