Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijani First Vice-Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov has said that the European Parliament’s recent resolution that directed pounding criticism at Azerbaijan’s human rights record was part of the drive to pressure the country over the Nabucco gas pipeline project.

He said Europe is thus trying to secure "additional concessions" from Azerbaijan, a potential supplier for the Nabucco pipeline, an EU-backed project seeking to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian energy.

"Nabucco is the West’s own project, so, it can go ahead and solve it," Asgarov told a parliamentary sitting on Tuesday. "Azerbaijan has never objected to this [project]. But taking advantage of this to extract additional concessions from Azerbaijan, and when these attempts fail, pressing on the country under the pretext of human rights, democracy and the rule of law is unbecoming."

The EP resolution, issued in Strasbourg last week, condemned what it called the worsening human rights situation in Azerbaijan. The European MPs expressed "deep concern" over the alleged crackdown on opposition protests and blamed the authorities for "increasing harassment and intimidation" of journalists and political activists.

Tuesday’s sitting of the Milli Majlis focused on discussions of the EP resolution, with a number of lawmakers labeling the assessment as biased.

After the MPs’ strongly worded statements, an ad hoc commission was established in the Azerbaijani parliament on Speaker Ogtay Asadov’s initiative to respond to the resolution. Later in the day, the seven-people-strong commission drafted an appeal to the EP saying its decision was "surprising" and "disappointing" and sought to overshadow the democratic development ongoing in Azerbaijan.