Follow-up to the Armenian President’s address before the Parliamentary Assembly

Written declaration No. 561 | Doc. 13331 | 04 October 2013

Signatories:

Mr Samad SEYIDOV, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Ms Gülsün BİLGEHAN, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Nunzia CATALFO, Italy, NR ; Mr Agustín CONDE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Şaban DİŞLİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Tülin ERKAL KARA, Turkey, EDG ; Ms Darina GABÁNIOVÁ, Slovak Republic, SOC ; Ms Sahiba GAFAROVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Sabir HAJIYEV, Azerbaijan, SOC ; Mr Ali HUSEYNLI, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Tadeusz IWIŃSKI, Poland, SOC ; Mr Tedo JAPARIDZE, Georgia, SOC ; Ms Nermina KAPETANOVIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Guguli MAGHRADZE, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Fazil MUSTAFA, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Ms Oľga NACHTMANNOVÁ, Slovak Republic, SOC ; Mr Andrea RIGONI, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Rovshan RZAYEV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Mr Ahmet Kutalmiş TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, EDG

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

On 2 October 2013, Serzh Sargsyan, the President of Armenia, stated before the Parliamentary Assembly: "We have never made any territorial claims on Turkey; if you can find a single speech or statement saying that, I would apologise to you...”. In this regard, we recall one of his numerous statements dated 23 July 2011 during a meeting with students in Tsaghkadzor, Armenia. A student asked Mr Sargsyan if Western Armenia, with Mount Ararat, would ever be united with Armenia. Mr Sargsyan responded: “It depends on you and your generation. I believe my generation has fulfilled the task in front of us; when it was necessary in the beginning of the 1990s to defend part of our fatherland – Karabakh – from the enemy, we did it” (asbarez.com; panarmenian.net).

His response to the young generation vividly demonstrates his territorial claims on both Azerbaijan and Turkey, as the Nagorno Karabakh region and Mount Agridag ("Ararat") are internationally recognised territories of Azerbaijan and Turkey respectively.

We kindly request the President of Armenia to keep his promise and apologise for misleading the esteemed audience of the Parliamentary Assembly.