Honorable Secretary General,

You have always been distinguished by your impartial and balanced statements, which is whywe found your last statement about the sad incident on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border at leastbewildering.

I understand that the basis for your statement has been the unbalanced and very partial statement made by the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group, however, honorable Secretary General, it’s not up to me to tell you that humanitarian principles cannot be selective and that humanitarian principles should not be politicized. 

I would understand if you had put the same effort in judging the atrocities committed by Azerbaijan: the military agressions, the use of banned weapons, the torture of Armenian soldiers and civilians, as well as the mutilation and desecration of corpses, and if you had called on Azerbaijan to respect its international commitments, as well as if you had condemned the atrocities that Azerbaijan committed during the last war in April 2016 -beheading and mistreating Armenian soldiers and civilians, killing children.All these facts have already been shared with you. However, surprisingly, neither the OSCE Minsk Group, nor youremembered the importance of humanitarian principles and international law, which is at leastsuspicious, if not strongly condemnable.

You have mentioned many times that you donot consider yourself an expert in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Therefore, I am more than certain, that a politician with your experience should not have based his assessment on the OSCE Minsk Group’s unbalanced statement, but instead, should have gotten more detailed and impartial information, taking into account the importance and sensitivity of the issue. And the proof is that the last border conflict was an unprovoked military intrusion by Azerbaijan, and that theAzerbaijani soldier you referred to, had been neutralized in the territory of Armenia while carrying out a coup de main.

I am saddened that our honored Secretary General of the Council of Europe has seconded the unacceptable statement made by the Minsk Group, thus harming not only his reputation, but also the negotiation process.

The Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is ready to meet with you during the January plenary session and to present the reality as it is, within the framework of international law and based upon the universal humanitarian principles to which we all adhere.

Sincerely,

Naira ZOHRABYAN

Chair of the Committee

Member of the Armenian Delegation to PACE