Alen Simonyan tells why Azerbaijani parliament speaker cancelled planned meeting in Geneva

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YEREVAN, 20 October. /ARKA/. In an interview with Radio Azatutyun (RFE/RL's Armenian-language service), Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan said that he knows why Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Sahiba Gafarova cancelled at the last moment a previously scheduled meeting with him, which was to be held in Geneva on October 15./pp

Gafarova and Simonyan were supposed to meet on the sidelines of the latest session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to discuss the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace efforts./pp ‘In response to my assistant's written request to explain the reason for the cancellation of the meeting, the Azerbaijani side first referred to some of my previous statements and the declaration adopted at the Francophonie meeting in Paris earlier this month,’ Simonyan said./pp

In the declaration adopted on October 5, all 54 member states of the Francophonie organisation expressed solidarity with Armenia, stressing respect for the territorial integrity of Armenia and Azerbaijan in accordance with the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration./pp

They called for the resumption of regional communications based on respect for the principles of sovereignty, national jurisdiction, equality and reciprocity. The unacceptability of the use of force was emphasised, and a call was made to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric and hate speech that could hinder the peace process./pp

The resolution also emphasised the importance of the European Union Civilian Mission in Armenia (EUMA) and its contribution to stability in the border areas./pp

The resolution emphasised the need to ensure continued humanitarian assistance for the 115,000 Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as to address the problems of Armenian prisoners of war, other detainees held in Azerbaijan. The organization reiterated its concern over the destruction of cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh and the support of its member countries for the UNESCO mission in Nagorno-Karabakh and neighbouring territories./pp

In the interview with Azatutyun Simonyan also commented on Baku's statements that Armenia should change its constitution before signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, as well as Azerbaijan's statements that the peace process has reached an impasse./pp ‘We cannot and should not say such things and should not allow the process to reach a deadlock. That's what those people, those states that are hostile towards Armenia and perhaps even towards Azerbaijan want. And I think Azerbaijan also understands this,’ Simonyan said./pp

Simonyan added that Armenia has nothing more to concede. The Speaker also said that in his conversation with his Turkish counterpart in Geneva he urged the Turkish side not to use the term ‘Zangezur corridor’, which is unacceptable for Armenia, because ‘for the Armenian side it means that Azerbaijan will attack Armenia.’/pp ‘As for the issue of the Constitution, I don't think we have reached the point where we have to make a decision. But in the case of the corridor, this is a red line for us,’ Simonyan said./pp

The preamble to the Armenian Constitution refers to the Declaration of Independence, which in turn refers to the 1989 act of unification adopted by the legislative bodies of then-Soviet Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (which was part of Azerbaijan)./pp

Azerbaijan interprets this as Armenia's territorial claims against it. In recent months, the Azerbaijani president has regularly stated that Baku will not sign a peace treaty with Yerevan unless this and other legal acts of Armenia are cancelled./pp

In a late September decision, the Armenian Constitutional Court ruled that the reference to the 1990 Declaration ‘does not refer to any principle or purpose that is not enshrined in the Constitution, effectively repeating the Armenian government's statement that it recognises Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. -0-/pp nbsp;/p