Tatev Hayrapetyan gave an interview to ARMENPRESS, summing up the results of the session and introducing what changes she is expecting from the upcoming members of the Azerbaijani delegation.
-The Armenian delegation recorded some success at the PACE winter session: Vladimir Vardanyan was elected chairman of PACE Sub-Committee of Human Rights, Edmon Marukyan was elected first deputy chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Sos Avetisyan – vice-chair of Sub-Committee on Media and Information Society, Hovhannes Igityan – vice-chair of ALDE faction. What will this give to Armenia, and what is the reason of electing so many Armenian parliamentarians to these key positions?
-I think this was a result of the major active works done by our delegation. This gives new opportunities for deepening our ties to use it for the benefit of Armenia. I think this also raises visibility and gives an additional opportunity to us to demonstrate ourselves.
-Can this be linked with Armenia’s recent Velvet Revolution?
-Of course, the attitude towards Armenia has changed, and this is a fact. Recording and welcoming Armenia’s democratic processes is also a fact. This is also linked with the fact that now our parliamentarians are also part of a pan-European agenda in addition to being engaged in the Armenian-Azerbaijani debates, and this is a very important recording for the future success. In the past PACE has been viewed exclusively as a platform for the Armenian-Azerbaijani “clashes”, but now, in addition to responding to the Azerbaijani delegation members, we also push forward topics in accordance with the pan-European agenda and establish our relations and ties also in this context which is again useful and contributes to strengthening our positions.
-During the PACE winter session the resolutions “Threats to media freedom and journalists’ security in Europe” and “Reported cases of political prisoners in Azerbaijan” were adopted which angered official Baku. What will these two resolutions give us?
-We should record that the PACE resolutions have exclusively a consulting nature, but they can be considered as key recordings connected with that particular country. Remember the previous caviar diplomacy and the provisions put by Azerbaijan, and the current situation Azerbaijan is in. Moreover, if in the past even co...
