EU-Armenia PPC urges Azerbaijan to immediately withdraw troops

PanARMENIAN.Net - The EU-Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee (PPC) has called on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately withdraw from all parts of the territory of Armenia.

The third meeting of the Committee was held in Brussels on 9 March, under the co-chairmanship of Arman Yeghoyan, on behalf of the National Assembly of Armenia, and of Marina Kaljurand, on behalf of the European Parliament.

In a statement adopted after the meeting, the Committee, among other things,:

– Deeply regrets the loss of life, immense suffering and destruction caused by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stresses that sustainable peace cannot be achieved by military means and the threat of use of force, but requires a comprehensive political settlement in accordance with international law and based in particular on the key principles of the Helsinki Final Act of non-use of force, territorial integrity, and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples, as well as on the OSCE Minsk Group’s 2009 Basic Principles and elements;

– Strongly supports the initiative of the President of the European Council to convene and mediate meetings of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan and stresses the urgent need to proceed with the negotiations on a peace treaty, which must address the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and in particular provide guarantees for the rights and security of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and enable the return of internally displaced persons and refugees; takes the view that an international guarantee mechanism should be established to this end and encourages active involvement of the EU and the EU Member States;

– Recalls the need to open all transport connections in the region, including between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, in line with the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020; calls on the authorities of Armenia and Azerbaijan to agree on the modalities on this issue, which must fully respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national legislation/jurisdiction of the respective countries; points to the significant potential of unblocking regional communications to boost socio-economic development in the South Caucasus;

– Strongly condemns the large-scale military aggression by Azerbaijan in September 2022 against the territory of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the military incursions into Armenian territory since May 2021; calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately withdraw from all parts of the territory of Armenia;

– Emphasises the need to address as a matter of priority all outstanding humanitarian issues; demands the immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees still held by Azerbaijan and insists that they must be treated in accordance with international humanitarian law; calls on Azerbaijan to investigate reports of enforced disappearances of Armenian prisoners of war, calls on the authorities of Armenia and Azerbaijan to redouble efforts to clarify the fate of missing persons from both sides and from all stages of the conflict;

– Strongly condemns the acts of torture, mutilation and killing of Armenian military personnel and unarmed prisoners of war by Azerbaijani armed forces in September 2022 and the posting of videos of these crimes on social media; insists on a full and transparent investigation by the Azerbaijani authorities in order to bring the perpetrators to justice; condemns, in the same way, all earlier reports of alleged war crimes committed by any party and urges effective investigations by the responsible authorities;

– Welcomes the process of normalisation of relations between Armenia and Turkey and the progress achieved so far, including the resumption of flights between the two countries, lifting of air-cargo bans and agreement on opening their border to third nationals; encourages further engagement by both sides without preconditions and without linkage to the solution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict; points to the potential positive effects for the entire South Caucasus region in terms of security as well as socio-economic development; commends the sending of Armenian humanitarian aid and search and rescue teams to Turkey after the earthquake of 6 February 2023; stresses the recognition of the Armenian Genocide as the most effective preventive mechanism against future genocides.