EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CALLS ON AZERBAIJAN TO STOP DESTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE IN NAKHICHEVAN
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jan 23 2006
STRASBURG, JANUARY 23, NOYAN TAPAN - ARMENIANS TODAY. On January 19,
2006 the European Parliament adopted a resolution on its European
Neighbourhood Policy toward the South Caucasus which included
provisions calling on Azerbaijan to end its destruction of Armenian
cultural heritage sites, and urging Turkey to end its border closure
with Armenia, reported the European Armenian Federation for Justice
and Democracy (EAFJD).
The report was prepared by Charles Tannock, MEP (EPP-ED, UK) following
the European Counsil's decision in February of 2004 to integrate the
South Caucasus into its European Neighbourhood Policy.
Two of the most striking elements of the resolution dealt with
Azerbaijani and Turkish actions directed against Armenians and
the region's ancient Armenian heritage. The first of these urged
"Azerbaijani authorities to stop the ongoing destruction of mediaeval
Armenian cemeteries and historic carved stone crosses in Southern
Nakhichevan." The second "exhorted Turkey to play a constructive role"
in the region and "asked Turkey to open its frontier with Armenia."
The resolution also noted that, "the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict impedes
Armenian and Azerbaijani development, regional cooperation, and the
effective establishment of the European Neighbourhood Policy." It
called for dialogue between "all the parties concerned," on the
basis of minority rights and respect for international legal
principles. Furthermore, it asked all concerned parties to let
"refugees gradually come back, in particular the return of Azerbaijanis
from the occupied territories."
"We congratulate the author of this report for his open-minded approach
and spirit of consensus-building in the improvement of the provision
dealing with the Karabagh conflict. His intervention was certainly
decisive in preventing the adoption of the initial unbalanced version
of the text," said the chairperson of the European Armenian Federation,
Hilda Tchoboian.
"We are gratified that the terrible destruction of Armenian cultural
heritage in Djoulfa was, at the very least, taken into consideration by
an international institution such as the European Parliament. However,
the annihilation of these sacred 'khatchkars' [carved stone crosses]
by the Azerbaijani armed forces must be forcefully condemned and
punished by European authorities, in particular the Council of the
European Union. This desecration must be responded to at the same
level as the international community's protest of the dynamiting of
the Bamiyan Buddhas by Talibans in 2001," concluded Hilda Tchoboian.
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