European Parliament attitude towards Azerbaijan is a ‘threat’ says MP

The European Parliament’s “unfair, non-objective and biased” position on Azerbaijan represents represents a “threat” to the EU’s interests in the South Caucasus. That is the damning verdict of Azerbaijani MP Azay Guliyev (pictured) on a recent resolution on Azerbaijan adopted by MEPs.

The resolution condemns human rights in the country and threatens a major diplomatic spat between the EU and the oil-rich nation.In an exclusive interview with this website, Guliyev defended his country’s record on human rights . Guliyev is a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, chairman of the council of state support to NGOs and vice-chair of the OSCE parliamentary assembly’s committee on political affairs and security.

He said democratic institutions “operate freely” and Azerbaijan is “known for its independent policy, dynamic development and high-levels of tolerance.”NGOs, media outlets, political parties and “all the elements” of civil society were allowed to operate freely, he insisted.

Guliyev went  on: “Azerbaijan has always expressed its readiness for equal and mutually beneficial co-operation with the EU and its member states. But, while Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has expressed his determination for an expansion of cooperation with the EU: “Azerbaijan’s gestures of friendship and cooperation are not always adequately appreciated by the European institutions.”

The resolution passed by the European Parliament on 10 September calls on the European Commission “to review and suspend temporarily, if needed, all funding not related to human rights, civil society and grassroots level people-to-people cooperation granted to Azerbaijan through the European Neighbourhood Instrument” and recalls Parliament’s decision to send a delegation to Azerbaijan.

The non-legislative resolution was adopted by 365 but it faced strong opposition, especially from the largest political group in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party, with 202 no votes and 72 abstentions.The general tendency was that the EPP and European Conservatives and Reformists voted against the resolution while MEPs from ALDE, Greens and Socialists and Democrats, in general, supported the resolution.

Guliyev said: “Unfortunately, despite the fact that Azerbaijan has successfully managed to protect and develop its thousand-years-old multicultural values and is always shown by  international experts to be an exemplary model in this regard, there have always been some who are concerned by Azerbaijan’s achievements. It is not a secret that Armenian diaspora is the first among them.

He believes that the importance of Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the European institutions is “incomparable” compared with Armenia, Georgia and Moldova while pointing out that Azerbaijan plays a “crucial role in the energy security of Europe”.

“With an economic recession and citizens in the poverty, Armenia is unable to make any contribution to the “Eastern Partnership” programme. Being controlled by Russia, which is not a secret, Yerevan is a member of the opposite side – the Eurasian Economic Union.

“However, despite a political regime which has brutally dispersed protests of soldiers’ mothers and those who complain about their social situation, the attitude of the West towards Armenia is completely different. And yet, the regime is not criticized.” Guliyev said evidence of this comes from Vahan Martirosyan, chairman of the Armenian opposition “National Liberation Movement”, who fled from oppression in Armenia to Azerbaijan.

He added: “One shouldn’t forget that Azerbaijan plays a crucial role in the energy security of Europe. However, in exchange, some of those in the West, at the instigation of Armenian diaspora, carry on a campaign aimed to discredit Azerbaijan and damage its international image.”The parliamentarian says that on September 15, the Armenian National Committee of America “thanked Armenian diaspora for souring the relations between the European Parliament and Azerbaijan and described the European Parliament resolution as the victory of the Armenian lobby.”

“This,” he added,” is the “clear proof of what we have said: most European politicians, represented both in the leadership of the European Parliament and in the various political groups, are under the influence of Armenian diaspora or  personal interests play their role in a smear campaign against Azerbaijan.

“Unfortunately, we are getting information that our neighbours – Russia and Iran- are also involved in this campaign and support it. The only purpose of all of this is to put Azerbaijan and the EU at odds and as a result ensure that the EU ‘loses’ Azerbaijan.”

He added: “We must confess that the anti-Azerbaijan coalition has achieved some success in this regard. As a sign of protest against the unjustified European Parliament resolution, the Azerbaijani parliament decided to quit the EURONEST PA, one of the major institutions of the ‘Eastern Partnership’. This means a possible collapse of the ENP. It is easy to guess who would win from this situation.

“The parliamentarian believes it is time for the European Parliament, which he says has become a “hostage to Armenia”, to restore a “sense of reality, correct its mistake and renounce these unjustified, biased and non-objective decisions against Azerbaijan.”

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