The Parliament of Azerbaijan, the Milli Majlis, swiftly rejected a resolution passed by the European Parliament on Thursday that overwhelmingly condemned official Baku’s egregious human rights record and demanded the release of all prisoners of war, including Armenians being held captive on bogus charges.
“This resolution once again presents false information and figures, distorts the facts, and seeks to politicize the investigation of crimes. Azerbaijan fully guarantees all fundamental rights and freedoms, and the European Parliament’s document, which interferes in our country’s internal affairs, serves entirely different purposes,” a statement by Azerbaijan’s parliament said on Thursday.
“There is no doubt that this resolution is a key part of the ongoing smear campaign against Azerbaijan. In particular, given Azerbaijan’s achievements in overcoming artificially created obstacles and uniting the global community in the fight against climate change, it was expected that this campaign would be filled with various politically motivated ‘elements.’ In this context, the European Parliament, which hosts Azerbaijanophobic, Turkophobic, and Islamophobic forces, was inevitably going to ‘contribute’ to this campaign. To grasp how biased this resolution is, one only needs to note that representatives of the former separatist regime and terrorists, accused of crimes against humanity on Azerbaijani territory, are referred to in the document as ‘Armenian prisoners of war,’” the statement said.
“It is evident that the European Parliament has become a platform for the immediate execution of orders from France, Armenia, and the Armenian lobby. Such resolutions expose the true nature of the political agendas targeting our country. The discussions and adopted documents in the European Parliament have become instruments of blatant interference in the internal affairs of sovereign nations. However, this institution must understand that its biased stance and resolutions based on false information are no longer of any significance,” the statement went on.
“The Azerbaijani Parliament strongly rejects the European Parliament’s biased and prejudiced resolution. We believe that, facing serious challenges, Europe’s legislators need to focus on addressing these issues more than ever before,” the statement added.
Members of Azerbaijan’s parliament, the Milli Majlis, on Friday angrily reacted to a European Parliament resolution.
Azerbaijani lawmaker Sevil Mikayilova called the resolution “yet another biased” measure against her country in an interview with the Trend news agency on Friday.
“The document ostensibly aims to condemn the ‘repressions’ allegedly existing in Azerbaijan, but in reality, it is an example of political manipulation based on false accusations and double standards,” Mikayilova said, adding that the sole purpose of the resolution is to target Azerbaijan’s sovereignty, “damage our country’s international reputation, and exert political pressure.”
“At the same time, this is a deliberate step aimed at undermining trust in Azerbaijan’s legal system and weakening our statehood,” the lawmaker added.
“While the European Parliament claims to fight for human rights and democracy, it demonstrates a glaring silence regarding serious violations within its own borders,” Mikaylova said, and why France was not being condemned for what she called “decades-long support for corrupt regimes in Africa.”
Mikayilova said that the inclusion of what she called the “Armenian military prisoners” issue in the resolution “clearly demonstrates that the document is not about defending human rights but is prepared with the aim of exerting political pressure on Azerbaijan.”
“We call on the European Parliament to be objective. Using human rights as a tool for political pressure primarily undermines the remaining trust in this institution’s values,” Mikayilova said.
Another lawmaker, Azer Badamov said the the West “has fallen”under the influence of France and the Armenian lobby.
“If there was a little justice in the European Parliament, they would first talk about the dictatorial activities of France located in the center of Europe, the Macron administration’s neo-colonialism policy in the 21st century, and the gross violation of fundamental rights of people living in island states. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen,” Badamov said, parroting President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan who, during the United Nations Climate Summit, COP29, last month, accused France of neo-colonialism, prompting Paris to boycott the gathering.
“The West continues its attempts of political pressure against Azerbaijan,” Badamov said.
