YEREVAN.- Armenian delegation positively assessed the  Final Statement and Recommendations to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Armenia and EU.

The statement was adopted as a result of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee thirteenth meeting held last week in Brussels, head of the Armenian delegation Samvel Farmanyan told reporters on Monday.

Farmanyan, in particular, pointed out the key points of the document.

The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee:

16. believes there can be no alternative to the peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict; deplores the lack of progress in the negotiation process and stresses the importance to move beyond the current status-quo towards a secure and prosperous future;

17. reiterates its support to the work of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs for the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and to the set of Madrid principles, without exception, presented by the Presidents of the Minsk Group Co-Chair Countries: France, the USA and Russia, in their 2009 L’Aquila and 2010 Muskoka joint statements, also fully supports the Deauville statement of 26 May 2011 of the three Presidents, which calls on all the parties to the conflict to take decisive step towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict, as well as the Los Cabos statement of 18 June 2012; stresses the importance of reaching an agreement on Basic Principles for settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as an important step towards a comprehensive peace agreement to ensure lasting and sustainable peace; further stresses the importance of creating suitable conditions for a future legally-binding free expression of will concerning a final status solution;

18. underlines the value of confidence-building measures, including withdrawal of snipers from the line of contact, in accordance with the OSCE recommendations; 

19.  supports and calls for the establishment of a mechanism for active incident-prevention and the independent investigation of cease-fire violations along the line of contact as stated in the joint statement of the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia at the March 2011 summit in Sochi, reiterated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and accepted by Armenia;

20. states that the EU must play a more active role in further supporting confidence building measures to spread the ideas of peace, reconciliation and trust among all sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict despite not being a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, and underlines in this respect the value it attaches to unconditional access for EU representatives, including Members of the European Parliament to the region;

21.  deplores the decision by the President of Azerbaijan to pardon Ramil Safarov, a convicted murderer sentenced by the courts of a Member State of the European Union, and expresses its deep concern over his subsequent glorification after his extradition to Azerbaijan; regards this gesture as not only contrary to the spirit of international law but as contributing to further tensions in the region, exacerbating feelings of injustice; condemns any provocation that would add further tension to an already tense and fragile situation;

22.  is deeply concerned that such acts could jeopardize reconciliation attempts and further undermine the future development of peaceful people-to-people contact in the region, which is a significant way to achieve lasting and sustainable peace;

23. welcomes all statements contributing to the peaceful settlement of the conflict and reminds that regarding the planned opening of an airport in Nagorno-Karabakh, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs have received renewed assurances from all sides that, in accordance with international law, they reject any threat or use of force against civil aircraft and will refrain from politicizing the issue;

24. deplores the non-ratification of the two Armenia-Turkey protocols, signed in Zurich in 2009, in that context urges all parties, Turkey in particular, to meet their commitments; stresses the importance of ratifying the Zurich protocols and stepping up efforts to facilitate the normalization of relations without any preconditions, with the subsequent opening of the unilaterally closed border;

25.  believes that the Armenia-Turkey normalization process and the OSCE Minsk Group negotiations should not be linked and supports all initiatives aimed at facilitation of regional cooperation, thus ending the policies of economic isolation of any country in the region;

26.  recalls the European Parliament resolution of 1987 on recognition of the Armenian Genocide; is however encouraged by the fact that the issue has, in recent years, become the focus of open and public debate in Turkey itself, which could contribute to reconciliation between the two neighbouring nations ensuring their peaceful co-existence and lasting cooperation;