Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian is in Strasbourg to participate in the 116th session of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

This marks the fifth year of Armenia's Council of Europe membership, and the first since the passage of the Constitutional Referendum which has made possible the signing of the 13th Protocol of the European Convention of Human Rights on abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances.

Minister Oskanian addressed the Council in French and spoke about democratic processes, democratic reforms and in that context, he raised three issues:

He said, "First, even as there is a momentum the world over toward adopting democratic processes which assure the development of free societies where freedom of expression is an essential component of life, the Turkish government has become more and more aggressive in denying the Armenian Genocide abroad and criminalizing its discussion at home. As a result, there is a natural response to such denial in some of our member countries, to attempt to legislate against all denialist efforts. The irony is that the Turkish government considers this a travesty of freedom of speech and expression while sustaining their own right to punish their own citizens who use the term."

The Armenian Foreign Minister also addressed issues of human rights. "I can only wish that the ideas and ideals of Europe came automatically with membership. Perhaps then I would not be here today to mourn the irreversible, irrational, intentional destruction of a medieval Armenian cemetery on the territory of Azerbaijan. Thousands of massive, unique stone sculptures which had survived through centuries are no longer there. A cemetery has been wiped out and the hillside has been turned into a shooting range. This destruction is a blatant attempt to wipe out traces of Armenian presence on those lands."

Finally, in addressing the Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution, the Minister said, "Upon membership, Armenia and Azerbaijan made a commitment to see a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. There are positive elements in the negotiations process in which we have been involved over these last several years, but that can produce results only if the parties understand – and clearly declare – that they don't have a military option here. Europe offers a new context for negotiation, regional cooperation and post-war reconciliation. This is the Europe - the place of peace and cooperation – to which our two countries belong."

In the framework of the Ministerial, Minister Oskanian met with Thomas Hammarberg, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe.

On the evening preceding the Ministerial meeting, a special informal gathering, hosted by Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, featured former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, Special Envoy of the UN SG for the Future Status Process for Kosovo.