Azerbaijan to protect further its fair stance on Karabakh conflict, FM says

/By AzerNews/

By Laman Sadigova

PACE has urged Armenia to recall its armed forces from occupeid lands of Azerbaijan in the resolution entitled "Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water” prepared by Milica Markovic.

Hikmat Hajiyev, the spokesperson of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that the PACE resolution condemns the humanitarian and environmental problems created for Azerbaijani citizens living in the region as a result of Armenia's occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories.

The Parliamentary Assembly once more reminded all its member states that the right to water is essential, in accordance with the Helsinki Rules of 1966 and the Berlin Rules of 2004 on water resources, and thus constitutes a prior condition for the enjoyment of other human rights.

“The Assembly considers that the deliberate creation of the artificial environmental crisis should be regarded as an act of hostility of one state against another with the aim of creating ecological aggression and ecological disaster zones,” the spokesperson said.

The Assembly urges that the creation of an artificial environmental crisis must be attributed to an “environmental aggression” and must be seen as a hostile act aimed at creating environmental disaster and making normal life impossible for the population.

The Sarsang reservoir was built to provide its residents with water and irrigate agriculture in the surrounding border areas. However, after Armenia occupied these lands, it has been using this reservoir as a tool of humanitarian and ecological terror.

In winter months, the Armenian side intentionally opens the floodgates and creates conditions for overflooding the surrounding areas. In summer months, Armenia doesn’t allow to use the reservoir. As a result, there are serious problems in provision of people with water, irrigating agriculture and preserving biodiversity.

“The document also underlines the fact that the lack of regular maintenance work for over 20 years on the Sarsang reservoir, located in one of the areas of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia, poses a danger to the whole border region. The resolution calls on the Armenian government to stop using water resources as a tool of political influence or pressure and in view of the acute humanitarian problems urge immediate withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the region,” Hajiyev added.

Hajiyev also said that “the resolution sharply condemns the fact that Armenian parliamentary delegation and Armenian government did not cooperate with the Assembly during the period when the report was being prepared.”

“Such behavior of Armenia does not comply with the obligations undertaken as a full member of the Council of Europe,” he added.

The spokesperson said that unfortunately, the report "Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan", as well as a draft resolution on the basis of it prepared by Robert Walter was not adopted. “Some 66 PACE members voted for the resolution, 70 voted against it, while 45 abstained.”

Hajiyev noted that due to the absence of any progress in resolving the conflict, Azerbaijan supports any initiatives of other international institutions which can positively contribute to the elimination of the consequences of Armenia's aggression. Azerbaijan will continue its efforts in keeping this issue on the agenda of international organizations and protect the country's fair stance in this regard.”

Hajiyev said Azerbaijan will further continue efforts to protect its fair stance.