The work of the OSCE PA Autumn Meeting began in Yerevan. The Head of the RA NA delegation to OSCE PA Sargis Khandanyan gave a speech in the discussion on the theme regarding security problems and challenges in the OSCE region.
“ Madam President, dear colleagues,
First of let me join President of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister to welcome you all in Yerevan. It is an honor and a pleasure to host the 21 st Autumn Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in my country.
The Vancouver declaration that we adopted a few months ago clearly identified the threats that are tackling the whole OSCE region and sent concrete signals to those who are threatening our security. However, the security of the OSCE region continued to deteriorate during this whole time. Our region is not an exception. The concerns that we were voicing and the alarms that were ringing during these past few years have become a brutal reality.
Since the establishment of this parliamentary platform the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh has been one of the pivotal topics for the discussions, and the core of those discussion s was what kind of solution of the conflict could guarantee the security and dignified life of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Dear friends, there are no Armenians left in Nagorno-Karabakh because despite all these discussions and calls, Azerbaijan has always imagined one type of solution and it has a name: ethnic cleansing, Nagorno-Karabakh without Armenians. We were all unable to prevent this.
Dear colleagues,
Despite the wars and crises of the past we strongly believe that our region needs real, sustainable, and lasting peace. This is not just a good wish or a dream. The peace in South Caucasus and between Armenia and Azerbaijan has a very precise formula: open borders, functional transportation and communication links, respect to each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, inviolability of interstate borders as well as tolerance and respect towards each other. We believe that this is the right time to give it a good chance and to bring this formula to life and stop the sufferings of the people in this region. We are tirelessly working towards it, and we invite you all to support us on this path, to make the Crossroads of Peace a reality ,” Sargis Khandanyan noted.
