PACE rapporteur to tell about "water aggression" of Armenia

A delegation headed by the rapporteur of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development of PACE, Milica Markovic, has arrived in Azerbaijan. The purpose of the visit is to prepare a report on "inhabitants of border regions of Azerbaijan being intentionally deprived of water."

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov met with members of the delegation. He pointed out the importance of the problem of water supply in the South Caucasus region and Azerbaijan, he stressed that, as enshrined in international documents, the use of water should have a free character.

The Foreign Minister, noting the humanitarian importance of water, informed that the Sarsang reservoir was once built to supply water to agriculture and the people living around it.

According to Mammadyarov, as a result of Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands, people were deprived of the opportunity to use this reservoir. The Armenian side uses it to create a threat, it is supplying water in the spring months, thus creating conditions for the flooding of surrounding areas, and in the summer months, when there is a great need for water, cuts off the supply.

While telling the representative of PACE about the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict, the Foreign Minister expressed his dissatisfaction with the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group. According to Mammadyarov, it is ineffective.

"We can be satisfied with its activities when the Armenian armed forces leave Azerbaijani lands," Trend quoted him as saying.