ArmInfo. Azerbaijan's aggressive actions towards Nagorno- Karabakh have led to a massive human rights crisis. The mass expulsion of more than 100 thousand Armenians from their homes is nothing less than ethnic cleansing, Armenia's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe Arman Khachatryan stated at discussions in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the humanitarian situation resulting from the policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Azerbaijanis' claims that these people left voluntarily do not stand up to criticism. In a resolution adopted on October 12, PACE also confirmed that almost the entire Armenian population of the region left their historical homeland due to the real threat of physical destruction, the policy of hatred towards Armenians in Azerbaijan and the lack of trust. Azerbaijan must be held accountable for ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, illegal use of force and, accordingly, actions contrary to the CoE charter and membership obligations, Mr Khachatryan said.
CE Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric presented to the Committee of Ministers the deyails of her meeting with Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan.
In this regard, Arman Khachatryan highly appreciated the holding of the meeting, which provided a good opportunity to discuss the humanitarian situation that has arisen as a result of the forced displacement of the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh, and subsequent steps of support from the international community, including the Council of Europe, in solving existing problems.
With the participation of PACE President Tiny Kox discussed were the resolution "Humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh" approved at the autumn session of PACE and the consultation of the same name were discussed. Khachatryan presented the main provisions of the resolution to the Committee of Ministers, noting the importance of consistent steps by the Committee of Ministers following the PACE consultations.