The 52nd meeting of PABSEC General Assembly in Yerevan kicks off with  scandal: 4 delegations refused to accept organization`s medals

ArmInfo. Beginning of the 52nd meeting General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) in Yerevan was marked by a small scandal.

After the welcoming speech of the Chairman of the National Assembly,  Ara Babloyan, the speaker announced that all national delegations  were awarded honorary medals in connection with the 25th anniversary  of the organization. However, immediately four delegations, including  Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia and Ukraine, declared that they were  refusing medals. The head of the Azerbaijani delegation, Eldar  Guliyev, said that he had recently taken this post and therefore he  could not accept this honorable award. "I want to note that this is  in no way connected with politics. On the contrary, we are very well  received in Yerevan, and I am sure that during the next PABSEC  summit, which is likely to be held in Azerbaijan, we will also be  able to welcome the Armenian delegation," Guliyev said.

The representative of the Georgian delegation, as the head of the  delegation was absent, noted that the latter was refusing a medal,  while asking not to discuss this issue. The head of the delegation of  Turkey declared that he is currently only acting head  and does not  have the honor to accept this medal. Head of the Ukrainian delegation  Chubarov also did not arrive in Armenia, and asked to postpone the  medal award.

Speaker Babloyan noted that the award is given not only, and not so  much to the heads, but to the delegations themselves, who have worked  in the PABSEC for 25 years, to which Secretary General Asaf Hajiyev  stated that it is not worth making tragedy of the issue, stressing  that the head of the Turkish delegation has not yet been approved in  office, noting that those who did not receive the medals in Yerevan  will be able to receive them at meetings in Baku.

At the same time, in an interview with journalists, Babloyan urged  not to politicize this issue, since the PABSEC is not a political  organization. "I think that this issue should not be politicized.  When we discussed this issue with the Secretary General, he noted  that representatives of some delegations believe that we need to give  the medals to those heads of delegations who have long led them. Our  approach was somewhat different. We awarded medals not to the heads  of the delegations themselves, but to all the delegations as a whole,  on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the organization. And Asaf  Hajiyev and I agreed that those who did not receive the medal today  will be able to receive it during the next meetings in the  organization, " Babloyan said. He also noted that these issues should  not be speculated due to the problems accumulated in the region.

To note, on November 27, the 52nd meeting of the PABSEC General  Assembly started in Yerevan.