Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev accused the international community Thursday of ignoring the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh as his country joined a key European human rights body.
Aliyev, whose country joined the Council of Europe along with enemy Armenia, noted in an address that it had been eight years since over a million ethnic Azeris were forced out of Nagorno-Karabakh -- a mountainous region located inside Azerbaijan -- by ethnic Armenian fighters seeking independence.
Accusing Armenia of a "full-scaled military aggression", Aliyev said: "There is no similar disastrous case of this kind in the world."
"It is unfortunate that the international comunity is silently observing this continueing tragedy," he said.
The Azerbaijani leader noted that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had set up a group to try to broker a peace agreement "but its activities have not been successful yet."
While lamenting the ongoing tensions, Aliyev said there were "opportunities to achieve a fair and just settlement of the conflict and establish peace with Armenia" by granting "a high degree of self-rule" to Nagorno-Karabakh, but not independence.
For his part, Armenian President Robert Kocharian said the "peace process requires patience and time but certainly has prospects for success."
But the Armenian president said a settlement hinged on "broader formulations of the notion of sovereignty," suggesting that Azerbaijan's offer did not go far enough to secure the rights of Karabakh Armenians.
Armenia and Azerbaijan become the 42nd and 43rd members of the European body for human rights and democracy. The Council had insisted on welcoming the two countries at the same time.
The two delegations attended the official flag-raising ceremony outside the Council of Europe building, which was also attended by Council of Europe President Walter Schwimmer and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Lord Russell-Johnston.
Armenia will have four seats in the assembly and Azerbaijan six.
Kocharian and Aliyev also signed the European Human Rights Convention.
Aliyev described Azerbaijan as a bridge between Europe and Asia, and said its membership would contribute to make European values anchored in the Caucasus region.
The two countries have had special guest status with the council since 1996, and applied for full membership that same year.
The two were supposed to become part of the council before the end of 2000, but legislative elections in Azerbaijan which monitors described as flawed slowed the accession process.
New elections held earlier this month in Azerbaijan paved the way for their entry -- STRASBOURG (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
