The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) did not approve the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation at the winter session. The PACE Monitoring Committee considered the proposals put forward by the German MP Frank Schwabe in this regard acceptable.
At today's meeting of the PACE winter session, a decision was made not to approve the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation based on the mentioned proposals.
Speaking before the vote, the representatives of Ukraine and Turkey urged the members of the Assembly to take the right decision and not support the initiative.
At the session, it was also emphasized that limiting the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation does not mean the termination of Azerbaijan's participation in other structures of the Council of Europe.
It should be noted that PACE makes 4 main claims against Azerbaijan. It is not so difficult to prove the groundlessness of these claims with facts.
First of all, PACE uses a geographical concept that no longer exists - the term Nagorno-Karabakh. Secondly, the claims that the official Baku exerted any pressure and violence on the majority of the Armenian population to leave the economic region of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur of Azerbaijan do not make any sense.
The migration process took place in front of the whole world, under the conditions of unhindered media coverage. There are hundreds of photo and video facts showing official Baku's elegant behavior with Armenian residents, providing them with necessary food and other means.
The UN mission, which visited Karabakh at the beginning of October last year, said in its statement that during the military operations carried out by Azerbaijan, there was no damage to the civil infrastructure, schools, hospitals in Khankendi and other places. It was emphasized in the statement that in the conversations with the local population (persons of Armenian origin remaining in Karabakh), no complaints were received from them.
The next argument of PACE is related to not allowing the delegation of Azerbaijan to visit the Lachin Corridor in 2023 and observe the situation in Garabagh. It is not difficult to prove that this argument is also "toothless".
It is clear that a country that is a member of an international organization assumes several obligations, but this process should be mutual, as in all bilateral relations. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe discussed a limited agenda related to Azerbaijan during its visits to the country, only by its interests.
PACE has turned a blind eye to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories for 30 years and has shown a special attitude toward Armenia. In the relations with Azerbaijan, the institution was concerned only with issues related to Armenians and considered only this topic as a priority.
Even after liberating the territories of Azerbaijan from occupation, like other European institutions, the Council of Europe and PACE did not take any initiative to see with their own eyes the devastation caused by Armenia during the occupation, the erasure of villages and cities, the destruction of material, cultural and religious heritage. did not reciprocate.
Thus, PACE puts forth a classic double standards approach. Against the fact of Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan and occupation of its territories, he made a few statements that have only legal weight and no practical influence. Although PACE issued resolutions supporting the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, it did not take any steps to implement them.
PACE did not discuss imposing any sanctions on Armenia, which did not implement those resolutions, or even limiting the voting rights of the delegation. PACE has turned a blind eye to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories for 30 years and has shown a special attitude toward Armenia. In the relations with Azerbaijan, the institution was concerned only with issues related to Armenians and considered only this topic as a priority. Even after liberating the territories of Azerbaijan from occupation, like other European institutions, the Council of Europe and PACE did not take any initiative to see with their own eyes the destruction caused by Armenia during the occupation, the erasure of villages and cities, the destruction of material, cultural and religious heritage, and Baku's invitations did not reciprocate.
Thus, PACE, which organizes visits to Azerbaijan with its limited agenda, is not interested in the mutual development of relations with Azerbaijan, useful discussions on freedom of thought, speech, and other topics in our country and tries to use those topics that it considers as auxiliary, as a tool of manipulation against official Baku. During their visits, the PACE representatives even avoided meeting with Azerbaijan IDPs.
In such a case, Azerbaijan, which has its agenda in relations with PACE, cannot accept under any circumstances the neglect of its interests. When PACE does not consider the state interests of Azerbaijan, what efficiency can its delegation's visit to our country bring?
Another claim of PACE is related to “political prisoners” in Azerbaijan.
Since Azerbaijan became a member of the organization in 2001, PACE has used the “political prisoners” problem as a means of pressure against our country. Now the organization is including the persons detained within the framework of investigation related to criminal facts of an economic and criminal nature in the category of “political prisoners”, claiming that there are repressions carried out in Azerbaijan. However, it forgets that the court investigation of the persons it calls "political prisoners" has not started yet, and no verdict has been issued against them. In such a case, PACE's fuss should be evaluated as additional pressure on Azerbaijan's democratic institutions and independent judicial system, and it clearly shows that the organization is not interested in the implementation of justice.
PACE’s final remark for not confirming the credentials of the delegation of Azerbaijan is that official Baku did not invite the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to observe the presidential election to be held on February 7.
Azerbaijan has always sent invitations to international organizations, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in connection with both the presidential and parliamentary elections. The delegation of PACE has positive comments on free, fair, and transparent conduct in the elections it has participated in, including the last parliamentary elections held in 2020.
However, after Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity in September 2023, PACE was one of the organizations that attacked our country and was irritated with the country's successes. PACE, which is under the political influence of the European Union, drew attention with its non-objective approach under the influence of Brussels and Paris in the past months, thereby damaging its international reputation. The institution's approach to Azerbaijan also allows us to notice that it takes a biased and far from objective position regarding the election process and Azerbaijan in general.
Thus, PACE itself has become an insignificant and disreputable institution by digging a grave for itself. It has no means of influencing the processes going on in Europe and the world. Although Azerbaijan became a member of the organization for support to the settlement of the Garabagh conflict, it was distinguished by its passivity and lack of real influence on the events, as in the case of the conflict in Ukraine and Georgia. PACE did not play any useful role in solving the Garabagh issue. On the contrary, its latest steps may lead to Azerbaijan leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. Because official Baku does not trust the objectivity of an institution that Germany and France have turned into an anti-Azerbaijani platform.
Due to this insecurity and today's decision of the PACE, the Azerbaijani delegation issued a statement and announced that the Azerbaijani delegation has decided to suspend its cooperation with the PACE and its participation in the organization for an indefinite period against the background of the intolerable racism, Azerbaijanophobia and Islamophobia that exists in the PACE.
The delegation left the session after making the statement.
With this statement, Azerbaijan once again demonstrated that no country and international organization can speak to it in the language of dictation.
In the end, as Samad Seyidov, the head of Azerbaijan's delegation to PACE stated in his letter of protest to the decision of the Monitoring Committee: "Refusing to ratify the credentials of our delegation will be a serious blow to the power of PACE and the Council of Europe in general, and the responsibility for its serious consequences rests with the initiators of this narrow-minded step."
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