The application of sanctions against Armenia for its armed occupation of Azerbaijani territories

Motion for a resolution | Doc. 13535 | 18 June 2014

Signatories:

Mr Elkhan SULEYMANOV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Mr Francesco Maria AMORUSO, Italy, NR ; Mr Pedro AZPIAZU, Spain, ALDE ; Mr Viorel Riceard BADEA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Egemen BAĞIŞ, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Robert BIEDROŃ, Poland, SOC ; Mr Philippe BLANCHART, Belgium, SOC ; Mr José Miguel CAMACHO, Spain, SOC ; Mr Agustín CONDE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Ahmet Berat ÇONKAR, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Jonny CROSIO, Italy, EDG ; Ms Ismeta DERVOZ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Ms Tülin ERKAL KARA, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Bernd FABRITIUS, Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Sevinj FATALIYEVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Claudio FAZZONE, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Sahiba GAFAROVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Giuseppe GALATI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Zbigniew GIRZYŃSKI, Poland, NR ; Ms Ingebjørg GODSKESEN, Norway, EDG ; Mr Jarosław GÓRCZYŃSKI, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Mehmet Kasim GÜLPINAR, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ, Spain, SOC ; Mr Hamid HAMID, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Mr Mike HANCOCK, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Olivier HENRY, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Adam HOFMAN, Poland, NR ; Mr Mariusz KAMIŃSKI, Poland, NR ; Ms Nermina KAPETANOVIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Mr Burhan KAYATÜRK, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Arkadiusz MULARCZYK, Poland, NR ; Mr Fazil MUSTAFA, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Mr Suat ÖNAL, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Abdülkadir Emin ÖNEN, Turkey, EDG ; Mr José Ignacio PALACIOS, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Eva PARERA, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Ángel PINTADO, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Cezar Florin PREDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Gabino PUCHE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Carmen QUINTANILLA, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Eleni RAPTI, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Adam ROGACKI, Poland, NR ; Mr Rovshan RZAYEV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Mr Ali ŞAHİN, Turkey, EDG ; Ms Luz Elena SANÍN, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Predrag SEKULIĆ, Montenegro, SOC ; Mr Ömer SELVİ, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Samad SEYIDOV, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Bernd SIEBERT, Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Karin STRENZ, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Spyridon TALIADOUROS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Mehmet TEKELİOĞLU, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Ahmet Kutalmiş TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, ALDE ; Mr Konstantinos TZAVARAS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Volkmar VOGEL, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Łukasz ZBONIKOWSKI, Poland, NR ; Mr Tobias ZECH, Germany, EPP/CD

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

As a consequence of an armed Armenian aggression, 20% of Azerbaijani territories, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven neighboring regions, were occupied and over 1 million Azerbaijanis became internally displaced people due to ethnic cleansing policy by Armenia in these territories. The armed occupation caused great material and moral damage to Azerbaijan.

The illegal character of this armed occupation of Azerbaijani territories was confirmed in the resolutions and documents of the United Nations Security Council, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the OSCE, and other international organisations, demanding the immediate and unconditional end of the occupation. Armenia holds international legal responsibility for this occupation before the international community for over 22 years.

In Resolution 1416 (2005) the Assembly reaffirmed that “independence and secession of a regional territory from a State may only be achieved through a lawful and peaceful process based on the democratic support of the inhabitants of such territory and not in the wake of an armed conflict leading to ethnic expulsion and the de facto annexation of such territory to another State.” The Assembly, at the same time, reiterated that “the occupation of foreign territory by a member State constitutes a grave violation of that State’s obligations as a member of the Council of Europe”.

On 10 April 2014, the Assembly adopted Resolution 1990 (2014), confirming and stressing once again the importance of the above-mentioned principles. In the same resolution, citing Crimea and referring to the violation of these principles, the Assembly suspended the voting rights of the Russian delegation and its right to be represented in leading bodies of the Assembly.

The Assembly should apply one single standard and adopt exactly similar sanctions against the Armenian delegation by suspending its voting rights and excluding it from Assembly’s leading bodies, until the end of the illegal occupation of Azerbaijani territories.