We firmly reject the groundless accusations and bias against our country reflected in the declaration adopted by the Congress of the Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on 26 October 2023 regarding the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan,” said a statement by the delegation of Azerbaijan to the Congress of the Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
According to the statement, during the long period of Azerbaijan's membership in the Council of Europe, the twenty percent of the Azerbaijani territories were under the occupation of Armenia, and about one million people were subjected to ethnic cleansing and forced displacement from their homeland.
“However, in the past period, these issues were never specifically discussed in the Congress, and no clear position was publicly taken regarding this gross violation of international law and its humanitarian consequences. In addition, no attention has been paid to the humanitarian problems facing Azerbaijan in the post-conflict period after 2020, including the complete destruction of hundreds of settlements in the liberated areas, the massive contamination of the areas with mines, and the impact of all this on the safe and dignified return of the Azerbaijani IDPs to their homes.
Against this background, it is deeply regrettable that the Congress adopted a declaration distorting the context of local anti-terror measures carried out by Azerbaijan on 19-20 September 2023 aimed at addressing exclusively the legitimate security concerns arising from the presence of illegal Armenian armed formations in its sovereign territories. Moreover, the consistent efforts taken by Azerbaijan towards the establishment of sustainable peace in the region and the reintegration of the Armenian residents of the Karabakh region, as well as the provocative activities of Armenia to undermine those efforts have not been duly recognised in this declaration.
In this regard, we consider that it is irresponsible to drag the Congress into an insidious political campaign against Azerbaijan and to damage the constructive cooperation between our country and this institution. As the delegation of Azerbaijan, we fully reject this unfair approach shown against our country and call on the Congress to exercise the necessary caution regarding the peace process in our region and act rigorously within its mandate,” the delegation of Azerbaijan added
