If falsification really took place in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) when counting the votes on a resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh, it gives no credit to the PACE, which is one of the most important European institutions, Ali Ahmadov, deputy prime minister, deputy chairman and executive secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party told reporters Jan. 30.

“That’s at least because PACE confirmed the fact of occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia,” Ahmadov said. “Demonstration of the opposite position cannot be considered correct. On the other hand, it is very disappointing that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs did everything possible so that such a decision wouldn’t be adopted in PACE, which makes us think about what purposes the Minsk Group serves as a whole.”

On Jan. 26, the PACE Winter Session participants discussed the resolution titled “Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan”, prepared by MP Robert Walter (UK), however it was not accepted.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.