Baku condemns MEPs' illegal visit to Nagorno-Karabakh
By Sara Rajabova
Certain EU institutions show different positions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Fuad Isgandarov, who heads Azerbaijan's mission to the European Union, told Trend news agency.
"The European Commission, which is the executive body of the EU, as well as its External Action Service, which is responsible for issues of the commission's foreign policy, do as a rule, say they support the mediating efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group to resolve the conflict. As for the legislative structure, which is the European Parliament, the situation is different," Isgandarov said.
He said numerous resolutions adopted by the European Parliament so far note the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenian armed forces and call for an immediate withdrawal of the invading forces from all the occupied territories, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz in his interview to a local news agency in January clearly voiced support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.
"Our position is respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within internationally recognized borders," Schulz said.
Amb. Isgandarov said while commenting on those remarks, "Thus, the European Parliament has repeatedly demanded withdrawal of the occupying forces from the occupied territories in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council. I believe that this open position of the European Parliament may be an impetus so that the executive structures of the EU would take a more active position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."
Recently, representatives of the European Parliament Ewald Stadler (Austria), Kyriacos Triantafyllides, Eleni Theocharous (Cyprus), two members of the French parliament as well as a Belgian professor paid an illegal visit to the Azerbaijani territories that are under the occupation of Armenia. They met with the leaders of the separatist regime in Khankendi, the center of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic run by ethnic Armenians in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
However, the European Parliament told the local media that the visit took place on those parliamentarians' personal initiative and the delegation that visited Nagorno-Karabakh is not an official delegation of the European Parliament.
Commenting on the issue, Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov said at a parliamentary session on Tuesday that he would appeal to European Parliament President Schulz. According to Asadov, his appeal would cite "the MEPs bribed by the Armenian diaspora".
According to the Azerbaijani speaker, a number of MEPs, including representatives of international organizations, issue statements regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which run counter to international norms, as well as support the Armenian aggression.
The speaker noted that a tough position should be taken against international organizations applying double standards toward Azerbaijan.
"I regret that some international organizations are still pursuing a dual policy against Azerbaijan and in many cases we took a soft stance regarding the activity of these organizations. Now we have to take a hard line with regard to such entities and all layers of society should support us. Society must unite to protect the national interests of Azerbaijan. Then we will react harshly to such attitudes toward us," Asadov said.
Head of the Center for Political Innovations and Technologies, political analyst Mubariz Ahmadoglu said the visit of the European MPs, which took place at a challenging time, has struck a crushing blow to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"The leading countries of the EU and Europe should individually express their concrete and precise position on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. If the EU does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, then it must think about leaving the South Caucasus region," the analyst said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against the neighboring country. Since a lengthy war between the two South Caucasus countries that displaced over a million Azerbaijanis and ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Peace talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs representing the United States, Russia and France have been largely fruitless so far.