What Will You Do Regarding the Detention of Artsakh Leaders? Armen Gevorgyan to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe

“Just yesterday, during the same session, we awarded the Václav Havel Prize to Turkish political prisoner Osman Kavala, acknowledging the fact of human rights violations in Turkey, and at the same time, we elected a new Vice-President from Turkey to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, effectively encouraging its current policies,” said Armen Gevorgyan, a member of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), addressing Secretary General Maria Peichinovich.

Gevorgyan then directed a question regarding the detention of the political and state leaders of Artsakh by Azerbaijan. “Surely you are aware that Azerbaijan, continuing its genocidal policy, has recently captured the political and state leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh just as the Turks did 108 years ago during the first Armenian Genocide. Given the deteriorating situation of democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan, what do you plan to do? Or are we going to award more prizes in the future?” Gevorgyan questioned.