PACE rapporteur on Karabakh conflict makes statement

Terry Davis, PACE rapporteur on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, issued a statement on May 17. He touched on his closed meeting with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia and emphasized one more time it was essential that the conflict be resolved in a peaceful way. Mr Davis did not say anything about the contents of his future report on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The rapporteur's statement consisted of two parts, "The Assessment of the Situation" and "The Future of the Region". In the first part, the rapporteur emphasized his separate meetings with the foreign ministers were held behind closed doors.

"The longer occupied and mainly devastated territories stay depopulated the more difficult it will be to restore them," Tarry Davis said. Economic systems of both the countries need stability and financial support, but large sums of public money are spent on military expenditure.

The second part of the statement Mr Davis started with the description of his role and importance in the resolution of conflicts. In addition to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, "I was a rapporteur on Georgia and coordinated the work of the group on the South Caucasus of the Parliamentary Assembly's Political Affairs Committee. Therefore I understand problems of the region more than others," he said.