Council of Europe and the past Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict

Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in the Council of Europe documents

Committee of Ministers

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is the statutory decision-making body of the organisation, has always declared its long-standing unambiguous position on the issue of respect to sovereignty and territorial integrity of its member States on various occasions. At its Ministerial session held on 16-17 May 2019 in Helsinki, Finland, the Committee of Ministers adopted respective decisions whereby reaffirming its commitments to the norms and principles of international law, the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all member States within their internationally recognised borders.

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

On 25 January 2005, at its winter part-session, the PACE adopted Resolution 1416 (2005) and Recommendation 1690 (2005) entitled “The conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region dealt with OSCE Minsk Conference”. In this Resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly regretted that hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, and considerable parts of the territory of Azerbaijan were occupied by Armenian forces. The Assembly mentioned 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 and reaffirmed the right of displaced persons from the area of conflict to return to their homes safely and with dignity. It recalled Resolutions 822 (1993)853 (1993)874 (1993) and 884 (1993) of the United Nations Security Council and urged the parties concerned to comply with them, in particular by refraining from any armed hostilities and by withdrawing military forces from the occupied territories. 

On 26 January 2016, at the plenary session of the Assembly two reports concerning the formerly occupied territories of Azerbaijan were discussed:

  1. Report on “Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan”, prepared by the Rapporteur of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, British parliamentarian Mr Robert Walter;
  2. Report on “Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water”, prepared by the Rapporteur of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development by the member of the delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ms Milica Markovich.

In its Resolution (2085) 2016 adopted following the report on “Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water”, the Parliamentary Assembly has considered that the deliberate creation of an artificial environmental crisis must be regarded as “environmental aggression” and seen as a hostile act by one State towards another aimed at creating environmental disaster areas and making normal life impossible for the population concerned. In this regard, it has deplored the fact that the occupation by Armenia of the respective territories of Azerbaijan creates similar humanitarian and environmental problems for the citizens of Azerbaijan living in the Lower Karabakh valley. In view of this urgent humanitarian problem, the Assembly has requested an immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the territories concerned, and called on the Armenian authorities to cease using water resources as tools of political influence or an instrument of pressure benefiting only one of the parties to the conflict.

Furthermore, the delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Parliamentary Assembly has constantly brought the results of Armenia's policy of aggression and occupation against Azerbaijan to the attention of PACE members. A number of documents (see below) related to the former conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan were put forward by the delegation of Azerbaijan and supported by numerous members of the Assembly.

On 10 November 2020, after almost thirty years, the armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan was brought to an end with the signing of the trilateral statement of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Russian Federation. At present, the primary task of Azerbaijan is to rebuild the completely destroyed cities, towns and villages in the liberated territories in order to ensure the safe and dignified return of Azerbaijani IDPs to their homes, whose fundamental rights have been violated for decades. Furthermore, ensuring lasting peace, development and progress in the region is the basis of Azerbaijan's vision for the future, and Azerbaijan is ready to normalise relations with Armenia on the basis of strict adherence to the principles of international law, in particular, the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of international borders.

In this context, proceeding from this understanding, Azerbaijan encourages the Council of Europe to use its well-known expertise and comparative advantage for fostering confidence-building and reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In this vein, Azerbaijan welcomes the initiative put forward by the Secretary General on confidence-building measures between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the participation of the Council of Europe in this process.

  

Title of document Doc. type Doc. number    Date
Prisoners of war and hostages held in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Motion for a recommendation 9063 25 Aprel 2001
Recognition of the genocide perpetrated against the Azeri population by the Armenians Written declaration 9066 14 May 2001
Ecological situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan (mountainous Karabakh, Shusha, Lachin, Gubatli, Zengilan, Kelebecer, Agdam, Fizuli, Cabrail) Motion for a recommendation 9148 27 June 2001
Seizure and destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage Motion for a recommendation 9147 27 Juin 2001
Armenian-Azerbaijan (Mountainous-Karabakh) Conflict Motion for a resolution 9239 27 September 2001
Nuclear technologies and nuclear waste in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan Motion for a resolution 9444 07 May 2002
Respect of norms and principles of international law by member states Motion for a recommendation 9431 7 May 2002
Network of terrorist organisations supported by Armenia on the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan Motion for a recommendation 9489 14 June 2002
Destruction of the historical cemeteries and creation of new permanent “cemeteries” of catastrophe by Armenians in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan Motion for a recommendation 9516 08 July 2002
Restoration of human rights in the Azerbaijan lands occupied by Armenia Motion for recommendation 9599 14 October 2002
Settlement of civilian population by Armenia in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan Motion for a recommendation 10239 29 June 2004
Appropriation and demolition of the forests by Armenia in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan Motion for a recommendation 10075 11 February 2004
Massive fires in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan committed by Armenia and Mountainous Karabakh separatists during the last 20 days Motion for a recommendation 10992 28 June 2006
The Armenian policy of ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis Motion for a resolution   10090 27 June 2006
Illegal settlement of Armenians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan by Armenia as a gross violation of the principles of international law Motion for a recommendation 10991 28 June 2006
The protracted conflicts in the GUAM Countries Motion for a recommendation 11168 31 January 2007
Destruction of Azerbaijani historic monuments Motion for a recommendation 11501 22 January 2008
The gravest security threat to the South Caucasus Motion for a resolution 11587 17 April 2008
The forced mass deportation of Azerbaijanis from Armenia (1948-1953 and 1988) Written declaration 11815 28 January 2009
Urgency for taking into consideration the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in the context of the development of regional relations Written declaration 11883 29 April 2009
Need to eliminate activities preventing a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan Written declaration 12218 27 April 2010
The necessity to intensify the activities of the Ad hoc Committee on the conflict over the Naghorno-Karabakh region Written declaration 12286 09 June 2010
The need to return the corpses of Azerbaijani soldiers to their state Written declaration 12397 06 October 2010
The Anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre Written declaration 12508 27 January 2011
The necessity for speeding up the peaceful solution of Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Written declaration 12383 14 February 2011
The construction of an airport in the occupied Azerbaijani territories by Armenia Written declaration 12590 14 April 2011
Murder of 9-year-old Azerbaijani civilian, Fariz Badalov Written declaration 12591 14 April 2011
Armenia's policy towards undermining the solution of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh Written declaration 12755 05 October 2011
20th anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre Written declaration 12855 26 January 2012
The urgent need to solve the IDP and refugee problems arising from the Nagorno Karabakh conflict Motion for a resolution 12863 31 January 2012
Follow-up to the Armenian President’s address before the Parliamentary Assembly Written declaration 13331 04 October 2013
Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water Motion for a resolution 13468 01 April 2014
The application of sanctions against Armenia for its armed occupation of Azerbaijani territories Motion for a resolution 13535 18 June 2014
The armed occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia Motion for a resolution 13546 24 June 2014
Ensuring the right of Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev to a fair trial Motion for a resolution 13709 05 February 2015
Azerbaijani hostages Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev held in the occupied Azerbaijani lands should be immediately and unconditionally released   Written declaration 14936 28 June 2019
Documents issued after the end of the conflict in 2020
Disclosure of all information by Armenia on the location of minefields is urgently needed to avoid further loss of human life    Written declaration 15326 22 June 2021
30th anniversary of the Khojaly massacre    Written declaration 15460 23 February 2022

 

 

 

Last update: 16.05.2022

 

 



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