Top Azerbaijani official: After failure at PACE German MP should quit politics

Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.25 / Trend, E. Mehdiyev /

After the failure at the PACE, Christopher Strasser should either apologize to the people of Azerbaijan, or quit big European politics, Head of Azerbaijani Presidential Administration's Social and Political Department Ali Hasanov told Trend on Friday.

Hasanov said that German MP Strasser, who gives the impression of an extremely emotional person and politician of subjective opinions, more than a year deceiving German voters, some members of the PACE and many Azerbaijani opposition members pinning their great hopes on him to realize their intentions to gain power, set them against Azerbaijan and ultimately disappointed them.

This week PACE dismissed Strasser's report on the so-called political prisoners. A sizable majority voted down Strasser's report, with 125 against, 79 in favor and 20 abstaining.

"It is not a secret that Strasser was fulfilling a specific order, and certain political circles in Germany, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid Markus Loning and organization Amnesty International were behind his attacks against Azerbaijan," Hasanov said.

He noted that on the eve of the "Eurovision" Song Contest 2012, Azerbaijani public has seen their anti-Azerbaijani statements and speeches of the same content sent from a single center.

"Because of that, most of the PACE members, in their right mind, reasonably did not vote for a groundless, ordered and factious resolution prepared by anti-Azerbaijani circles, taught Strasser and his supporters a serious political lesson, and also took down this heavy burden from this temperamental MP's shoulders," Hasanov said.

Hasanov advised Strasser and other PACE members, who as him, speak based on their personal views, who have subjective opinions, not to unfairly slander individual countries and peoples, and not to deceive parliament members with millions of voters.

"Such tricks could be the end of their careers," Hasanov said.

"This is a defeat not only of Strasser, but bitter defeat of some anti-Azerbaijani elements supporting him in Europe, Germany and Azerbaijan, wishing to form a negative opinion about Azerbaijan at the PACE and other international organizations, distorting the reality in accordance with their own interests, influence on Azerbaijan, local and international human rights organizations and illegal human rights defenders and other "grant eaters", Hasanov said.

He underscored that it is not casual that Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Article XlX organizations and the fictional organization "International Cooperation Group on Azerbaijan" coordinated by it and other human rights organizations were jointly conducting serious propaganda against Azerbaijan and wanted to force them to vote for Strasser's report putting pressure on MPs on the eve of the PACE discussions and during the plenary session with representatives of the German and Armenian delegations.

"Human Rights Watch's last biased statement also proceeds from a desire to hide the failure of anti-Azerbaijani circles and to shift responsibility to sensible PACE members and Azerbaijan's international supporters," Ali Hasanov said.

He added that the attempts of representatives of this organization to manipulate the facts and the subjective judgment can not be taken seriously.

"According to their logic, biased claims of suspicious sources of Strasser's report are more credible than the reviews of the most members of such a reliable organization as PACE," he said.

"I would advise Human Rights Watch representatives to thoroughly read the report of co-rapporteurs Pedro Agramunt and Joseph Debono Grech," he said.

"Besides shortcomings and disputed issues, this balanced document reflects the progress Azerbaijan made in combating corruption, in the field of improving the legislative base, the judiciary and other spheres."

Hasanov underscored that Azerbaijan has turned into an active participant of world's political, economic and humanitarian processes, that conducts independent policy in international cooperation issues, including the relations with influential international organizations.

"Azerbaijan follows the interests of the government and people. The proposals and initiatives of international organizations, and various international structures are also considered through the prism of the interests of the Azerbaijani people," he said.

"Azerbaijani authorities have never taken and will not take actions against the will of the people. Therefore, the attempts of various concerned foreign circles to exert pressure on Azerbaijan won't produce any results."