“Dear colleagues,

The ugly face of terrorism, the barbaric and inhumane actions committed by such groups as ISIL, Al-Nusra and other terrorists have kept all of us shocked for the last years. These terrorist groups have challenged the whole civilized world, the values and principles that we have cherished, thus generating a huge outrage and galvanizing a strong response to encounter this scourge.

What seemed to be far from Europe today knocks the doors of the capitals of the continent – Paris, Brussels. Even before the terrorist acts in Europe many experts of the field have warned that the volunteers who joined ISIL and other groups, getting spiritual and military training in the Middle East bloodshed will be tempted to export the violence and “Jihad”, as they call it, to their countries of origin. This is what Paris and Brussels had recently encountered, and this is what Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have faced in the beginning of April.

All Europe was shocked by the horrific scenes that we saw - the civilians being killed while enjoying dinners, concerts, theatres, people, who were just doing their journey, flying home, on business, for fun and the pictures of them being killed... What was their fault? What is the fault of all of us? How can we protect our civilians? The appalling images of the elderly people tortured, maimed and killed in their homes by the special forces, the ISIL style executions of the servicemen and beheadings videotaped and circulated through the social media, the mutilated bodies of the soldiers, a kid killed in the schoolyard, all these horrible crimes were executed by the Azerbaijani armed forces against the people and defenders of Nagorno-Karabakh. The ISIL style is evident.

The authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh have credible reports that the Azerbaijani forces with previous ISIL and Al-Nusra experience committed many of these monstrous acts. The similarities of cruelty speak for itself. I would like to draw the attention of my colleagues and the relevant bodies of the Parliamentary Assembly to the egregious violations of the humanitarian law which amount to war crimes.

Dear colleagues,

The impunity of crimes gives birth to new ones. The ignorance to the scourge in one part of Europe may encourage the violence in others. Hence, the joint and concerted actions are needed to eradicate it from everywhere once and forever.