/By AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a report on inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan who are deliberately deprived of water at its Winter Session in Strasbourg on January 26.

PACE cannot ignore the problems of Nagorno-Karabakh and the sufferings of the ordinary people who are facing the shortage of water from the reservoir controlled by Armenia, said MP Milica Markovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who prepared the report.

“The matter rests in the population of the Council of Europe and the OSCE member-state and the humanitarian and social problems concerning us directly,” she said.

“The problem of providing the Azerbaijani population with drinking water is very important,” she said. “Despite the Azerbaijani authorities’ all efforts to provide the population with drinking water, it is not enough for irrigation.”

She said that the Armenian side has refused from cooperation on the issue.

Sarsang reservoir was built during the USSR in 1976 to provide residents of the border areas with water and irrigate agriculture.

However, Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

After the occupation of these lands, Armenia uses 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 does not allow to use the reservoir. As a result, there are serious problems in providing people with water, irrigating agriculture and preserving biodiversity.

Markovic noted that the use of water, according to the international conventions, is an integral part of human rights.

The session also discussed the report on “Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan” prepared by MP Robert Walter (UK).

However, the PACE that prefers to stand neutral in this conflict, did not adopt the second report. Sixty-six parliamentarians voted for the report, while 70 were against and 45 abstained.

Armenia is an occupant: Azerbaijan’s representative to PACE

Armenia is an occupant, sell black for white, and attempts to deny the facts, which are described in the reports of PACE co-rapporteurs Markovic and Walter, Azerbaijani parliamentary representative to PACE Rafael Huseynov said during the hearing of the reports on Azerbaijan at the session.

Armenia’s actions make the Azerbaijani population of the region suffer. The rapporteurs are impartial and are trying to help both countries, but Armenia does not want to see the truth, he stressed.

“Armenia has lost a sense of reality, although it would be useful to read both reports calmly and draw the necessary conclusions,” Huseynov said.

Adoption of resolution is the success of Azerbaijani diplomacy: analyst

Adoption of one of the two reports on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh region at such a forum as the PACE, in spite of the significant presence of pro-Armenian forces, in favor of Baku is the success of Azerbaijani diplomacy, Azerbaijani political scientist Fikret Sadikhov told Trend.

This document states that the people in these regions are faced with environmental and humanitarian problems.

Speaking about the second report, Sadikhov said although it was not finally adopted, it is not completely rejected and blocked at all.

“Some concerns still exist between those who abstained. I think that this is not the last attempt to address the problem at the PACE session and the attempts will continue,” he added.

International recognition of sovereign rights

The fact that the PACE adopted the resolution can have a positive impact on the peace process over Nagorno-Karabakh, French senator Nathalie Goulet told Trend.

“This clearly shows who the aggressor is. Armenia obviously takes a wrong position from a historical point of view and from the point of view of international law,” said Goulet.

Adoption of the resolution in favor of Azerbaijan is crucial, she stressed adding that this is a step towards international recognition of the historical and legal rights of Azerbaijan on the occupied territories.

Europe's unresolved conflicts problem

New president of the organization Pedro Agramunt noted that Europe still has a problem of unresolved conflicts.

He called the unresolved conflicts one of the challenges for the PACE. Such conflicts as Nagorno-Karabakh, Transdniestria, the conflict in the east of Ukraine and Georgia, have not yet been settled, the president stressed.

The regular session of the PACE started in Strasbourg on January 25 and will end on January 29.

During the first day of session, Anne Brasseur, Former President of the PACE said, it is necessary to find a solution over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Brasseur stressed that it is necessary to find a solution in order to advance in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, because it has been going on for so many years and there is no step forward.

Brasseur further noted that the debates during the session will contribute to the settlement of the conflict, adding that the PACE does not take anyone's side in this conflict.

“It is necessary to find a solution to the conflict and ensure the rights of both sides. The solution will not be found as long as mutual accusations are made,” she said, adding that casualties on both sides are also unacceptable.