Conflicts in the South Caucasus have become international, which causes concern in the Socialist International, Secretary General Luis Ayala has said.
He was addressing a press conference in Baku on the results of the meeting of the Socialist International's regional committee for the CIS, Caucasus and Black Sea states.
Ayala said the Socialist International could help to create an environment for dialogue between politicians from conflicting sides and listed meetings of party leaders of Israel and Palestine as an example.
He said the Azerbaijan and Armenian parties had held an effective dialogue on the issue.
“A Socialist International document on the Karabakh conflict will be adopted on 15-16 November in Paris, based on the results of the June meeting in Yerevan and October meeting in Baku,” Ayala said.
He believed that both parties should seek a durable peace settlement.
Another Armenian-Azerbaijani spat
Armenian and Azerbaijani representatives clashed again at the Socialist International meeting today, when Kiro Manoyan, deputy chairman of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutun, proposed that the next meeting of the Socialist International's regional committee be held in "independent Nagorno-Karabakh".
The co-chair of the Azerbaijan Social Democratic Party, Araz Alizade, responded immediately: "Karabakh has never been independent. If Armenia considers Karabakh an independent state, then how can two citizens of independent Nagorno-Karabakh have been elected president of another sovereign state, Armenia? And how can a citizen of Armenia invite others to the so-called independent Nagorno-Karabakh?"
Alizade said everyone knew that Karabakh was an integral and indigenous part of Azerbaijan.
The Karabakh Liberation Organization yesterday attempted to hold a protest against the Dashnaks visiting Baku. Araz Alizade said that the invitation to the Dashnaks was purely the decision of the Socialist International. "People hate Ahmadinejad in America, but he goes to America regularly every year. This event has been organized by the Socialist International. Our party is a member of this organization. I have nothing to do with who is invited."
"The Dashnaktsutyun was a member of the Socialist International when it was created, but it was dismissed from the organization after several acts of terrorism," Alizade said.
He said that later the party changed its statute, removing offending clauses on militarized units and claims on the territory of neighbouring states, and its membership of the Socialist International was restored..
Alizade said that he would again raise the issue of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun's membership of the Socialist International.
Armenia governed by 'oligarchs'
Elsewhere in his speech at the meeting, Dashnak Deputy Chairman Kiro Manoyan talked about the situation in Armenia.
"At present Armenia is governed by oligarchs," he said. "The economy depends on them. Corruption is flourishing in the country. We are trying to stop it. But we haven't yet made significant progress on this, as first we need to change people's way of thinking. As for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, I won't say anything about it. It requires fresh discussion."
On Turkish-Armenian relations, Manoyan said: "It's not worth talking about Turkish-Armenian relations. These relations are frozen. Two days ago it was a year since the signing of the Turkish-Armenian protocols. But Turkey set preconditions for the protocols. There was no condition in the document we signed about Nagorno-Karabakh. That's why we asked the Armenian leadership several times not to sign. And we still hold this position today."
The Socialist International meeting was attended by delegations from Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus, while representatives of socialist parties from Sweden, Hungary and Greece attended as observers.
APA 1news.az, ANS Press
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