The Federal Parliament of Belgium calls for the immediate withdrawal of the Azerbaijani armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh region
03/12/2020
After the French Senate and the Parliament of the Netherlands, it is the Belgian House of Representatives which is preparing to adopt a resolution condemning the military aggression of Azerbaijan, supported by the Turkish authorities and foreign mercenaries, against the Armenian populations of the Republic of Artsakh, as well as the deliberate Azerbaijani attacks on civilians and the use of cluster munitions and phosphorus bombs.
The Euro-Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (FEAJD) and the Committee for the Defense of the Armenian Cause of Belgium (CDCA Belgium) welcome the vote on a resolution on the war in Karabakh, this Tuesday, December 2, 2020, to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Belgian Federal Parliament. This resolution will be examined and adopted shortly in the plenary session of the Chamber.
The resolution clearly calls for the immediate withdrawal of the Azerbaijani armed forces and their Turkish allies and mercenaries from the Nagorno-Karabakh region, conquered by the use of force and violence. In its preamble, the resolution recalls moreover that in addition to the right to self-determination of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, the principle of non-use of force constitutes the other basic principle of the Minsk group of the OSCE which was not respected by Azerbaijan.
As the final status of Artsakh was not mentioned in the ceasefire declaration signed on November 9, the Chamber calls on the Belgian Government to support the resumption and the final and rapid outcome of the negotiations, under the aegis of of the OSCE Minsk Group, which will have to take into account in particular the right to self-determination of the population of Artsakh when drawing up a compromise on the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
After adoption of the resolution in plenary session of the Chamber, the Belgian Government will have the task of demanding that Turkey no longer interfere militarily in the conflict, that it immediately cease playing a destabilizing role in the region. Caucasus and above all that it stops promoting the transfer and installation of Syrian mercenaries and jihadists to Nagorno-Karabakh, by organizing their immediate withdrawal from the region. According to the resolution, any interference by Turkey in the ceasefire monitoring mission is seen as dangerous for the safety of the local population. Any such mechanism will have to be implemented within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.
The FEAJD and the CDCA also welcome the fact that the Chamber asks the Federal Government to do everything possible to contribute, with its European partners, to the reconstruction of the destroyed or damaged buildings of Artsakh and to provide humanitarian aid to the the local population and all the families of the victims and refugees. The Government should support the dispatch of a UNESCO mission to preserve the architectural and religious heritage located in the regions of Artsakh now controlled by Azerbaijan.
Finally, the resolution speaks on a subject that has preoccupied so many Armenian families since the declaration of the ceasefire, namely the release of prisoners of war. The Chamber therefore strongly condemns the execution of prisoners of war and demands that the perpetrators of these crimes be prosecuted and punished. She proposed sending international observers without delay to gather evidence of war crimes, such as torture and the execution of prisoners.
The FEAJD and the CDCA are now calling on all federal parliamentarians to adopt this resolution during the next plenary session and will remain attentive to ensuring that the motions voted on are effectively implemented by the federal government as quickly as possible.
Euro-Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (FEAJD)
Committee for the Defense of the Armenian Cause of Belgium (CDCA Belgium)
www.norharatch.com/
English translation – LOUSAVOR AVEDIS:
