David Babayan: One of the major democratic instances – PACE has turned into a bazaar
“We welcome the fact that one of those two abnormal reports was not adopted by PACE. It is a victory of democracy, democratic values over despotism and corruption,” David Babayan - the spokesman for the president of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) – said in an interview with Panorama.am when commenting on the votes held on two controversial anti-Armenian reports today during the ongoing winter session of the PACE.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe earlier today voted on the two reports. “Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water” – a scandalous report prepared by Milica Markovic, MP from Bosnia and Herzegovina - was adopted by 98 votes to 71, with 40 abstentions. Another controversial report that drew a wide response - “Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan” prepared by British MP Robert Walter who holds Turkish citizenship was rejected in a 66-77 vote.
“On the other hand, the second abnormal report was adopted. That defies logic and shows the existence of serious problems in PACE and Europe, and PACE has no immunity to oppose corruption flows and corruption within the organization,” Babayan said.
In his words, it does not mean a defeat of the Armenian side: the resolutions are non-binding. “Let Azerbaijan spend billions and waste its state budget – we will gain from that. But, on the other hand, we consider democracy an important value. When I see that one of the major democratic institutions has turned into a bazaar, to put it mildly, where everything is sold and bought, it is a real tragedy,” Babayan noted.
When asked about the further actions of Stepanakert regarding the PACE resolution, D. Babayan replied: “We will continue building our state and strengthening it. This is our answer to any manifestation of Azerbaijani aggression…. The Sarsang reservoir is one of our important facilities. By the way, we have repeatedly proposed supplying water to Azerbaijan, but they always refused”.
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