Top official: Pressure constantly exerted on Azerbaijan

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 29

By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:

The biggest crisis in international relations is the crisis of justice; there is no justice, said Novruz Mammadov, the deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department.

Mammadov made the remarks on Apr. 29 during panel discussions on the topic "The EU and its neighborhood policy" held as part of the 3rd Baku Global Shared Societies Forum.

The top official said a biased attitude towards Azerbaijan is being observed everyday on the eve of the First European Games.

"The attitude and the steps taken in relation to Azerbaijan are biased," said Mammadov.

He went on to add that today there is an atmosphere of war in the world.

"We also need to ask ourselves: why has such an atmosphere emerged in such a short period of time?" he said.

Mammadov said this situation has been over the last 20-25 years caused by giving the preference to not the norms and principles of international law, but to the political, economic and geopolitical interests of big states.

"If earlier the world had about ten "hot spots", today there are about 50 of them, and this is no coincidence," he said.

Mammadov noted that 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories were occupied, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged as a result of the geopolitical games, however, no opinion based on the international law has been expressed on this issue so far.

"This issue has been monopolized by the OSCE Minsk Group, despite the fact that it was obvious that the Minsk Group will not be able to resolve this problem," he added.

If a fair decision on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was adopted in time, it would be possible to avoid the subsequent conflicts in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine as well, according to Novruz Mammadov.

"However, such an attitude to the international law has led to a great tension on the international arena today," he said, adding that for present, it is nearly impossible to predict the results of this tension.

"Why should it be so and why did it happen?" asked Mammadov.

"Azerbaijan is a country that is part of the Muslim world," he said. "At the same time, it is an exemplary country of the Western world, which can become a model. But it is not so easy in the geopolitical area in which Azerbaijan is located. Azerbaijan's leadership is doing its best to achieve this."

"The current situation in Baltimore testifies to a bad situation there," he said. "But every day and every moment we see the attempts to exert pressure on Azerbaijan. The press and NGOs also join this process. The funds are also allocated for this. Why is it so? Today, Azerbaijan has been demonstrating a model of stability, security and development."

Later speaking to the reporters, Mammadov, commenting on the anti-Azerbaijan campaign managed from the office of the US secretary of state, John Kerry, said that a biased position is demonstrated towards Azerbaijan.

Mammadov said the anti-Azerbaijan campaign is being conducted on a daily basis.

"Secretary of State John Kerry's plans were revealed by the Azerbaijani organizations," he said.

Speaking about the causes of the biased attitude towards Azerbaijan, he said every strong state puts the geopolitical, political and economic interests above everything.

"They say one thing, but do another," Mammadov said, adding that all these efforts directed towards Azerbaijan will fail.

An investigation revealed that the anti-Azerbaijan campaign is being carried out from the office of the US Secretary of State John Kerry. The holding of the said campaign was instructed to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). This organization, funded from the US budget, has been for many years trying to form in Azerbaijan a "fifth column".

The NED has been sending, from sources in the West, millions of dollars to some NGOs and media structures in Azerbaijan.