BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 28. If the rights of the Azerbaijani delegation are not restored within one year, the country would seriously consider the total departure from the Council of Europe, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, as he received a delegation led by Managing Director of the German Eastern Business Association Michael Harms, Trend reports.
The head of state emphasized that the Azerbaijani territories had been under Armenian occupation for 30 years. “Armenians occupied 20 percent of our lands, devastating those territories, forcing displacing nearly one million of our compatriots. Armenia, which kept our lands under occupation during this period, disregarded the resolutions of the UN Security Council, international legal norms, including humanitarian ones. They committed the Khojaly genocide, which we commemorated just two days ago. After restoring our sovereignty and territorial integrity by dismantling the separatist stronghold in Karabakh, we came under attack. We are being blamed by individuals such as Macron, Borrell and others. Let's consider Ukraine. Ukraine seeks to restore its territorial integrity. Germany and other countries are sending weapons to Ukraine. You all declare that Ukraine must ensure its territorial integrity. But what about our territorial integrity?! Is our issue less important than the issue of Ukraine? Unfortunately, we are witnessing attempts to establish divisive lines in the South Caucasus. Many people in Azerbaijan think that our Muslim religion is the only way out given Georgia and Armenia are taken very close to the hearts of the European institutions and Azerbaijan is now being demonized. I do not say this is my personal opinion. This is what people think. After restoration of our territorial integrity and sovereignty, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a decision to suspend our delegation of voting rights. This decision was unfortunately initiated by a member of the Germany’s parliament from the party led by Chancellor Scholz. Is it once again a case of double standards or some sort of game being played with us?! The Chancellor of Germany demonstrates impartiality, and his statements and actions demonstrate that. While a member of his party tries to get rid of Azerbaijan from the Council of Europe, get rid of one of the two non-Christian countries, and does it deliberately, openly. And as you know, we decided not to participate in the sessions, because if we don't have a right to express our will, why should we be there?!”
President Ilham Aliyev noted that if the rights of the Azerbaijani delegation are not restored within one year, the country would seriously consider the total departure from the Council of Europe. The head of state regretfully noted that in the German media, Azerbaijan is allegedly portrayed as a country where freedoms are not ensured, people are imprisoned for their opinions, and it is depicted as a despotic country ruled by dictatorship. Saying that “this is absolutely fake and I regret that,” President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that the authors of those articles themselves are well aware of it, adding that the German Ambassador, who has been serving in Azerbaijan for several years, is also a witness of the processes taking place in the country. President Ilham Aliyev underlined that deliberately many negative impressions are created about Azerbaijan. “Well, does it play any role for what we are doing here? No. We do what is right for our people, for our country, whether it's the restoration of territorial integrity or it's our economic agenda,” the head of state mentioned.