Azerbaijani Blackmail to the Council of Europe

• 06.26.2015, 19:31
•  Europe,  Region

The official Baku has stated its readiness to leave the Council of Europe. Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, Novruz Mammadov, wrote about this on his Twitter account.

The main reason for this decision, according to Mammadov, is the organization's position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "The Council of Europe along with some EU institutions, has displayed that international law is not of great importance for them. It's another example of double standards. Unfortunately, Europe has not been able to figure out where that policy leads to, and what it might bring," the politician said.

Mammadov also mentioned that the EU is working in the campaign against Azerbaijan, which could force the country to change its foreign policy direction.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has also hinted about leaving the Council of Europe. The latter has noted that double standards and biased attitude towards Azerbaijan make the country think if it’s necessary at all to keep on making a part of the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly. In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry, it is written that the European Council adopted some anti-Azerbaijani documents, because Europe does not like this dynamically developing Muslim country. "This is a clear manifestation of Islamophobia," Foreign Ministry stressed, adding that "Azerbaijan has always been open to constructive proposals which would not contradict its national interests. The interference in the internal affairs of an independent state is insulting and totally unacceptable."

Azerbaijan's position on this issue is connected with PACE’s adopted resolution during the summer session which urged Baku to revise its policy on human rights and release political prisoners. However, the Azerbaijani side was more disappointed not in the record of massive human rights violations in this resolution, but in the expression "It’s well known to the Assembly the Armenian ‘’occupation’’ of Nagorno Karabakh and other territories" replaced with the phrase " It’s well known to the Assembly the matter of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict".

It should be noted that only a couple of weeks ago, the OSCE Office was closed in Baku in the same manner. So it is of no surprise that this time the target became the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly.

Obviously, Baku itself is mainly affected by this kind of policy, depriving itself not only from the opportunity to raise issues of concern in European institutions, but also to be supported by the international community's assistance.