January 20, 2016 - 12:31 AMT
PACE's Karabakh resolution product of secret agreement: Turkish paper

Turkish opposition news agency Demokrathaber has published an article on rumors of bribery concerning PACE's controversial resolution on Nagorno Karabakh, Ermenihaber.am reports.

During the fall sessions, PACE subcommittees approved measures that contained pro-Azerbaijani rhetoric on the Nagonro Karabakh conflict and accused Karabakh of cutting off Azeri water supplies from the Sarsang reservoir.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs issued a terse statement at the time, urging international bodies to consult with the Minsk Group before issuing resolutions that impede the peace process, which they were tasked to mediate.

According to the publications, two separate resolutions on the Karabakh conflict are high on the agenda of PACE’s winter session that opens on January 26.

“Independent international experts suggest that the English Conservative Party member Robert Walter and Spanish MP Pedro Agramunt – who introduced the resolution – have been much criticized for partiality,” Demokrathaber says, adding that the British MP's resolution mostly coincides with Baku authorities’ stance.

At the same time, Ankara, the constant Baku supporter, granted Turkish citizenship to that very British MP, “which cannot be an accident,” the paper says.

“This is why some people suggest the resolution is a result of some secret agreement. According to other speculations, Walter will in the near future come to serve as an adviser at the Turkish Foreign Ministry,” the news agency reports.

Inclusion of the resolution in the PACE agenda during Agramunt’s chairmanship is no coincidence too, the paper suggests: the Spanish MP has always avoided giving any assessments to Baku's ruling authorities and the Aliyev regime in his reports on the political prisoners, making himself a target for international rights groups' criticism.