Former NA Chairman calls PACE to bring to life the memorandum signed in 1999

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, ARMENPRESS: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe would have done very productive work if it tried to contribute to regulation of the Karabakh conflict and formation of atmosphere of mutual trust. Former Chairman of the RA National Assembly, head of the Christian-Democratic Party Khosrov Harutyunyan told Armenpress, considering inadmissible to re-establish the subcommittee on Karabakh issue within the framework of any structure in parallel to the works of the OSCE Minsk group. According to him, the PACE has the domain of its mission – to create cooperation between states.

“Still in 1998, when I was the Chairman of the National Assembly, we put forward a proposal to the PACE to come forth with the initiative of formation of atmosphere of mutual trust in the region. On the basis of our proposal the chairmen of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia signed a memorandum, by which we depicted how we see the parliamentary cooperation of our three republics within the patronage of the PACE,” Mr. Harutyunyan said, stating that no negotiation process can successfully end, if there is no trust between the parties.

According to Mr. Harutyunyan, it was necessary to put the above mentioned memorandum, which is an official document, into circulation, instead of re-establishing the subcommittee on Karabakh issue regulation.

The former chairman of the NA said that the sense of this document is that Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan form a long-term agenda of cooperation policy and conduct homonymic sessions in Baku, Yerevan and Tbilisi. “The biggest advantage of the parliamentary cooperation is the endless source of peoples’ diplomacy. Not to use it means not to understand its importance” Mr. Harutyunyan said.

He is of the opinion that the RA National Assembly must come forth with a statement on the subcommittee, in which the real mission of the PACE must be presented and which must mention that the parties need creation and development of trust and cooperation through the European structure.

“We must bring the 1999 memorandum to life, simultaneously coming forth with new proposals. We must tell Cavusoglu that the three South-Caucasian republics have one need – expansion of cooperation. In those issues the PACE must help the parties, for which a structure of political agenda of parliamentary cooperation must be set up. We should come forth with such proposals, not responding to which will be out of logic and non understandable,” the head of the Armenian Christian-Democratic Party noted.