YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament Armen Gevorgyan, member of the Armenian national delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has written a letter to President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Krišjānis Kariņš, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić and President of PACE Tiny Kox.

In the open letter, Gevorgyan warned that the membership of two states with authoritarian political regimes, Turkey and Azerbaijan, in the Council of Europe effectively legitimizes the practice of tolerance and acceptability of coexistence alongside democracy and authoritarianism.

Below is the full letter.

"Dear colleagues, 

"On September 20-th, I addressed you with a proposal to immediately initiate the procedure to suspend Azerbaijan's membership in the Council of Europe. I consider it important to further clarify my position in this letter, as, unfortunately, for today's European political elites, the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh is measured not in decades, but only a few years after the 44-day war in 2020, unleashed by Azerbaijan against the Armenian people. However, these elites must realize that the resolution of not only the Ukrainian but also the Karabakh issue will determine the future narratives of Europe's development. So,

1. The authoritarian regime of Azerbaijan launched a new full-scale military aggression against the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh under the pretext of an anti-terrorist operation. It is known, that a terrorist is someone who kills, rapes, and blackmails. Over the 35 years of conflict, Azerbaijan was solely responsible for these actions, while Armenians were only defending themselves and their fundamental rights. The state that has spent billions of dollars on weapons in recent years and its 10-million population waging war against 120,000 Armenians, more than half of whom are children, women, and the elderly, speaks of terrorism. In mean time, Azerbaijan receives substantial assistance and support from Turkey. The government that tried to subdue the people of Nagorno-Karabakh by fascist methods, imposing a 9-month blockade and effectively seeking to exterminate Armenians through starvation, also talks about terrorism.
2. Since 1915 Turkey entered an active phase of resolving the so-called "Armenian question," which meant the maximal extermination of the Armenian population of the region and the physical reunification of Turkic world through the areas inhabited by Armenians. Their first crime against humanity was the Armenian Genocide. This was followed by agreements that placed significant Armenian historical territories under the control of Turkey and Azerbaijan. The next step was the White Genocide, or in modern terms, ethnic cleansing in Nakhichevan, where not a single Armenian remains. Today, this program continues in Nagorno-Karabakh. The next stage will be the occupation of significant territories of Armenia under the pretext of the so-called Zangezur Corridor. In other words, the world must understand that the Turks will not stop at what they have achieved; they will seek a final solution to the Armenian question.
3. Turkic expansion continues not only in our part of Eurasia but is also rapidly unfolding in Europe. While in our region, it manifests in military aggression, ethno-religious chauvinism, and the desire to dominate and subdue non-Turkic peoples and states, in Europe, it undermines its democratic foundation. The membership of two states with authoritarian political regimes, Turkey and Azerbaijan, in the Council of Europe effectively legitimizes the practice of tolerance and acceptability of coexistence alongside democracy and authoritarianism. Unfortunately, today, we must acknowledge that the Council of Europe, as an international mechanism and instrument for promoting democratic values and traditions, has failed in its main mission since the collapse of the Soviet Union - the full integration of former Soviet states into the democratic world. Hence, I allowed myself to predict that the "ideological death" of our organization could become a reality.
4. The failed mission of our organization in the region will also be evidenced by the ongoing peace process. Under the current negotiation formats and content, the signing of the so-called peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which is also supported by the European community, will only lead to the strengthening of authoritarianism in Azerbaijan, its final transformation into a dictatorship-monarchy within the Council of Europe on one hand, and an increase in internal political instability in Armenia with all the obvious consequences for the basic human rights and freedoms, on the other hand. Therefore, not every peace brings democracy, security, and prosperity.
5. Furthermore, the democratic world irreversibly deforms when, in the case of Nagorno Karabakh, it proceeds from the idea that "winners are not judged, and they determine the basic rules of the game, regardless of international order and law." Such positioning has led to the abandonment of three fundamental principles for resolving the Karabakh issue, repeatedly voiced by the three major world powers at the level of heads of state - the United States, Russia, and France: the right to self-determination of peoples, the territorial integrity of countries, and the inadmissibility of the use of force. Only the principle of territorial integrity remains. The conclusion is that a flexible democratic world ceases to be fair and based on order. The main lesson of the last decades, including from the practice of the Council of Europe, is that issues are resolved by power and resources, specific geopolitical interests, rather than democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
6. You must not lead the situation to the point where Armenians will see the final injustice and impunity of the Ilham Aliyev’s regime, along with the international community's indifference to genocide. Regardless of the decisions made today, they may not be legitimate by nature for future generations of Armenians, as they contradict existing fundamental human rights and are made as a result of wars, violence, and blackmail. We have not to encourage the nations of our organization to defend themselves and their future in their historical homeland in accordance with the unacceptable practice available in the member-states of Council of Europe, which does not actually lead to the suspension or termination of their membership.

"I am going to make this letter public so that many of my colleagues can get familiar with its content and can think about the challenges that globally face not only the Armenian people, but also the entire democratic Europe."