Tuesday, July 9 2019 13:06

ArmInfo. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) at a meeting in Luxembourg yesterday adopted a final declaration, which includes appeals to the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to  intensify the dialogue on the Karabakh settlement under the auspices  of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The document also welcomes the recognition of the Armenian Genocide  by the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, as well as France's announcement  of April 24 as the day of commemoration of the victims of the  Armenian Genocide. The declaration also calls on the parliaments of  other countries in the organization to follow the example of Italy  and France.

''Acknowledging the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship  aimed at achieving a peaceful and lasting settlement of the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and welcoming the recent constructive  dialogue between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan aimed at  establishing an environment conducive to peace and undertaking  measures in the humanitarian field, we encourage the leaders of  Armenia and Azerbaijan to intensify their dialogue in the context of  the mediation led by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship and to take  specific and tangible measures to reach a peaceful solution to the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of the core principles of the  Helsinki Final Act, including in particular refraining from the use  or threat of force, and respect for territorial integrity and the  equal rights and self-determination of peoples'', the Declaration  reads.

Recognizing that participating States have a primary responsibility  to protect their populations from genocide and atrocities, the  obligation under international conventional and customary law to  ensure that those responsible for acts of genocide, crimes against  humanity and war crimes are held to account, and that victims have  the right to an effective remedy, the Organization welcomes the  recent recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Italian Chamber of  Deputies, as well as the designation by France of 24 April as the day  for the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, as measures which  promote awareness and contribute to the eradication of such  atrocities, and calls on other national parliaments to follow suit''.

The Declaration also calls on OSCE national parliaments to adopt 9  December as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the  Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime,  as well as to ensure that their educational systems and security  forces training are geared towards the prevention of such atrocities  in the future.

To note, initially in the draft resolution such contradictory wording  as "Karabakh and 7 regions of Azerbaijan" was used, an equal sign  between all conflicts in the post-Soviet space was put. These  formulations were removed from the text by the efforts of the  Armenian delegation in the organization. The Armenian delegation also  succeeded in introducing into the text of the document provisions on  the Armenian Genocide, and to record the principles of the right of  people to self-determination, along with the principle of the  territorial integrity of states.