Baku pauses to think if it actually needs CE membership

The Council of Europe’s prejudiced and double-standard attitude has made Azerbaijan think if it actually needs its participation in the CE and PACE.

According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, the key reason why the CE has adopted its last anti-Azerbaijani resolution is that Europe does not like to see a dynamically developing Muslim country. This is one more example of Islamophobia in Europe.

Haqqin.az quotes the ministry as saying that Azerbaijan has always been open for constructive recommendations if they comply with its national interests. But it is not going to accept any interference in its internal affairs or any document aimed to insult or pressure it.

The ministry means the last PACE resolution on the functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan. The document criticizes the Azerbaijani authorities for limiting freedom of speech and oppressing opposition. And even more important point is that unlike previous PACE resolutions, this one says nothing about “occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other Azerbaijani districts by Armenia” but just notes that PACE is informed of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In this light, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration & Director of Foreign Relations Department at the Administration of the President of Azerbaijan Novruz Mamedov has twitted that “along with some bodies of the #europeanunion, PACE also demonstrates that international law is of no significance... The principle of “we want everything our way” prevails.”

“Position of these bodies on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a vivid example. This is another example of double standards #PACE #COE #EU... Regrettably, those in #Europe still fail to realize where such policy leads and what the outcome could be... Such a position displayed by the Council of Europe questions #Azerbaijan’s future membership in this organization. @coe @Europarl_EN,” Mamedov says in his Twitter.