Armenia is against the Karabakh subcommittee at the Council of Europe because it fears exposure of its occupation of Azerbaijan, an Azerbaijani MP has said.
Sevinj Fataliyeva, deputy chairwoman of the Milli Majlis committee for international relations and interparliamentary ties, made these comments to Novosti-Azerbaijan.
"Armenia is concerned at the possible exposure of its policy of occupation which could be subject to serious reproach in Europe," the MP said.
"This is why Armenia is not interested in the restoration of the work of the Nagorno-Karabakh subcommittee in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. During the discussions the Armenian delegation was actively hampering the restoration of the subcommittee and speaking against it."
Sevinj Fataliyeva said that if Armenia wanted a peaceful resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, it should be interested in the revival of the Karabakh subcommittee and take an active part in it.
She said that, unlike Armenia, the Azerbaijani side welcomed the restoration of the subcommittee and intended to raise international awareness of the truth of the conflict, through exposing Armenia's occupying policy and promoting a peaceful resolution.
The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 28 January decided to revive the subcommittee on the Karabakh conflict.
Davit Harutyunyan, head of the Armenian delegation to PACE, said the delegation would not take part in the committee's work, as it had "serious reservations” about the restoration of the subcommittee.
The Karabakh subcommittee was set up to promote implementation of PACE resolution No 1416, passed in 2005, which calls for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. The initial subcommittee stopped work after the death of its chairman, Lord Russell-Johnston, in July 2008.
The OSCE Minsk Group has been mediating a solution to the conflict since a ceasefire was signed in 1994.
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