European Parliament ‘Strictly Condemns’ Turkey’s Destabilizing Role in Karabakh | Asbarez.com

In resolutions adopted on Wednesday, the European Parliament “strictly” condemned Turkey’s destabilizing role in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The resolution states that the European Parliament regrets that changes to the Nagorno-Karabakh status quo were made through military force, rather than peaceful negotiations and strongly condemns the killing of civilians and destruction of civilian facilities and places of worship.

The resolution also condemned the reported use of cluster munitions in the conflict; urges both Armenia and Azerbaijan to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which comprehensively bans their use, without further delay.

The resolution also “stresses that a lasting settlement still remains to be found and that the process of achieving peace and determining the region’s future legal status should be led by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and founded on the group’s Basic Principles; highlights the urgent need to ensure that humanitarian assistance can reach those in need, that the security of the Armenian population and its cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh is ensured, and that internally displaced persons and refugees are allowed to return to their former places of residence; calls for all allegations of war crimes to be duly investigated and those responsible to be brought to justice; calls on the EU to be more meaningfully involved in the settlement of the conflict and not to leave the fate of the region in the hands of other powers.”

 In Artcile 38 the European Parliament strongly condemns the destabilizing role of Turkey which further undermines the fragile stability in the whole of the South Caucasus region; calls on Turkey to refrain from any interference in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including offering military support to Azerbaijan, and to desist from its destabilizing actions and actively promote peace; condemns, furthermore, the transfer of foreign terrorist fighters by Turkey from Syria and elsewhere to Nagorno-Karabakh, as confirmed by international actors, including the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries; regrets its willingness to destabilize the OSCE Minsk Group as it pursues ambitions of playing a more decisive role in the conflict.