Foreign

Home page

Foreign

Appeal by political parties in Azerbaijan sent to European Parliament

19 September 2012 10:14 (UTC +04:00)

The deputy chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party (NYP) Mubariz Qurbanli told APA. He said besides the EP, the appeal has also been sent to all party leaders of the parliament and parliamentarians that voted for the resolution against Azerbaijan.

The appeal reads that the political parties in Azerbaijan support bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and European Structures. The document says that the EP resolution on Ramil Safarovâ€™s extradition and his pardoning by Azerbaijani president serves for the national interests of Armenian Lobby.

The appeal was signed by New Azerbaijan Party, Ana Vatan Party, Azerbaijan Social Welfare Party, Musavat Party , Azerbaijan Peopleâ€™s Party, United Azerbaijani Popular Front Party, Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Great Establishment Party, Citizen and Development Party, Azerbaijan Liberal Party, Azerbaijan Democratic Party, Azerbaijan National Independence Party, National Revival Movement Party, Justice Party, Civil Solidarity Party, Civil Unity Party, Azerbaijan Democratic Reforms Party, Classic Popular Front Party

The latest version of the Appeal is:

Appeal to the European Parliament adopted on September 13, 2012 by political parties in Azerbaijan on â€œThe European Parliament resolution on Azerbaijan: the Ramil Safarov caseâ€:

We, the political parties operating in Azerbaijan, reiterate our unambiguous commitment to developing the bilateral relations between European bodies and Azerbaijan, as well as to European values. Eurotlantic integration has been among key priorities in Azerbaijan`s foreign policy since the country regained its independence. Today, Azerbaijan is represented in a number of influential organizations, including the United Nations, the OSCE and the Council of Europe, having joined their conventions and other legal documents. A founding member of Euronest, Azerbaijan reaffirms its commitment to the European Union`s Association Agreement with South Caucasus countries through actively participating in the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership.
The European Parliament has adopted different resolutions on the South Caucasus and Azerbaijan. Some of these documents have featured objective views on Azerbaijan`s main problem â€“ the Armenian occupation, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, in some cases, parliamentary groups in the European Parliament have adopted â€“ for the sake of certain interests, particularly pressed by the Armenian lobby â€“ documents which distort reality. The adoption of such documents certainly causes different reactions within the Azerbaijani society and political circles in the country.
The resolution of the European Parliament on the extradition of Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov, who was imprisoned in Hungary, and his pardoning by the Azerbaijani President is completely biased, and serves the interests of Armenia and the Armenian lobby.
The issue of extradition and pardoning of convicts is regulated by conventions and other legal documents, which European states joined and which are accepted internationally.
The extradition and the pardoning of Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov was carried out on the legal basis of the Article 12 of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced People, the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, norms and principles of international law. Unfortunately, some European bodies have issued biased statements and resolutions on this issue.
We would like to remind that Ramil Safarov was born in Jabrayil, an Azerbaijani region occupied by the Armenian armed forces. Many of his loved ones and relatives were among civilians murdered and captured in Armeniaâ€™s aggressive war against Azerbaijan, while his family members became refugees. In 2004, Ramil Safarov was put to his trumps after being brought into the heat of passion by Armenian officer Gurgen Markarian`s insults while they were attending an English language course in Hungary. Pressed by Armenia and the Armenian lobbying organizations, a Hungarian court issued a very cruel verdict with respect to Ramil Safarov, which was in breach of principles of humanity, whereas there is not such severity in court rulings in European countries. A trial of and a verdict on Breivik in Norway is the most recent example. We would like to emphasize that Ramil Safarov has served 9 years of his sentence.
An uproar over the case of Ramil Safarov caused by the Armenian lobbying organizations and patrons of Armenia is, in actual fact, nothing but an attempt to conceal the military crimes carried out by aggressive Armenia, which occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijanâ€™s lands making nearly a million people refugees, and to disguise Armeniaâ€™s non-constructive position in the talks, which are now in stalemate. The fact that a country which brought its criminals (Monte Melkonian, Vazgen Sislian, Varuzhan Karapetian, etc., members of ASALA terrorist organization), who carried out many terror acts in different parts of the world, back to Armenia and gave them passports of Armenian citizens, has not been criticized by a single European organization caused anger and frustration within the Azerbaijani society. In reality, it is these terrorists that carried out grave military crimes against the peaceful population of Azerbaijanâ€™s occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, including the Khojaly genocide, after joining the Armenian armed forces upon their return to Armenia. We believe that itâ€™s reasonable if influential international organizations as the European Parliament take continues steps towards ensuring a peaceful settlement of the conflict between the two countries instead of adopting resolutions encouraging the Armenian aggression.
Irrespective of our political ideas, we, the parties which signed the Appeal, express anger and sensitivity of the Azerbaijani society concerning this issue, and once again express our resolute and unambiguous opposition to the European Parliamentâ€™s resolution on Ramil Safarov, and regard the clauses of this document as another manifestation of partiality, bias and double standards.