Azerbaijani claims that there was no ethnic cleansing in Artsakh are untrue - Michael Roth

YEREVAN, 19 September. /ARKA/. Michael Roth, head of the German Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee, said today in Yerevan that Azerbaijani authorities’ statements that there was no ethnic cleansing in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and forced displacement of its ethnic Armenian population do not correspond to reality.

He noted that the forced deportation of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh is one of the darkest pages of modern history.

‘But as much as it pains me, I see no possibility for their return. We cannot give people hope that something can change because we cannot guarantee it,’ he told a press conference.

The Budenstag representative also emphasised that he is in favour of the speedy release of the captive Armenians held in Azerbaijan.

He also said he expects the European Commission to be more involved in visa liberalisation talks with Armenia.

‘I can't make promises I can't keep, but the visa liberalisation process is quite complex, and it is led not by the EU member states, but by the European Commission. At the moment we are in a transitional phase, a new Commission is being formed and I expect and hope that it will start to advance this process with great involvement and intensity,’ he said at a press conference in Yerevan on Thursday.

The official start of negotiations on visa liberalization between Armenia and EU was announced in early September this year, following the meeting between Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas.

According to Schinas, the process has started at the political level, while at the technical level the teams are working together on specific issues to be solved. -0-

 

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18:21 09/19/2024