(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Abbas Ganbay Read more
"Frank Schwabe, a member of the German Bundestag, recently spoke
out against Azerbaijan as a clown," a statement from the Western
Azerbaijan Community says, Azernews reports.
The statement also said:
"The anger of a loser like F. Schwabe shows once again that
Azerbaijan has defeated not only the invading Armenia but also all
the forces behind it, and it is for this reason that these circles
now want to take revenge on Azerbaijan.
But history shows that such crusaders as F. Schwabe cannot
influence the will of Azerbaijan in the slightest degree".
Recall that Azerbaijan's president has said that his country may
consider leaving top European bodies, such as the Council of Europe
(CoE) and the European Court of Human Rights.
The warning came soon after the country's delegation quit the
CoE's parliamentary assembly (PACE) as the body was about to reject
its credentials, and amid general crises with the West.
On February 1, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received
Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin
Chungong. The IPU is a union of national parliaments of countries
around the world.
In remarks at the meeting quoted by the presidential website,
Aliyev reacted for the first time to PACE's move to push out the
Azerbaijani delegation. He called the move "anti-Azerbaijani" and
said that it was initiated by a minority group "which does not
serve dialogue and is overall in opposition to the traditions of a
parliamentary platform."
The idea to vote the Azerbaijani delegation out was raised by
German MP Frank Schwabe and supported by thirty members of the
Assembly.
Aliyev said that if the rights of the Azerbaijani delegation at
PACE are not restored, Baku will consider pulling out altogether
from the CoE and the European Court of Human Rights, according to
the website.
In voting out the Azerbaijani delegation on January 24, PACE
concluded that the country has "not fulfilled major commitments"
stemming from its joining the Council of Europe in 2001.
"Very serious concerns remain as to [Azerbaijan's] ability to
conduct free and fair elections, the separation of powers, the
weakness of its legislature vis-à-vis the executive, the
independence of the judiciary and respect for human rights, as
illustrated by numerous judgments of the European Court of Human
Rights and opinions of the Venice Commission," PACE said in its
resolution.
The decision only concerns Azerbaijan's parliamentary delegation
and the country remains a member of the CoE - for now.
Aliyev's threat to quit the CoE and human rights court comes
amid deteriorating relations with Western countries and
institutions.
In late December, the French ambassador to Azerbaijan was
summoned to the foreign ministry, and two embassy employees were
declared persona non grata and expelled "for actions incompatible
with their diplomatic status and which contradicted the 1961 Vienna
Convention on Diplomatic Relations." France rejected the allegation
and retaliated the following day by expelling two Azerbaijani
diplomats.
While Azerbaijani officials did not specify what the French
diplomats had supposedly done wrong, pro-government media earlier
asserted that the country's law enforcement had exposed a spy
network working for France.
MENAFN08022024000195011045ID1107827134
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.