As you know, on January 24, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on depriving the Azerbaijani delegation of voting rights until the January 2025 PACE session.
In this article, we will try to explain the legal and political reasons for this decision from an analytical approach.
I think that the first reason for the adoption of such a resolution can be given, for example, by the fact that the Karabakh issue started after the peaceful settlement of Azerbaijan without war. For twenty years, PACE did not impose any sanctions against Armenia, did not send any message to hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced Azerbaijanis, did not deal with their problems, and even forbade our delegation to PACE to deal with these problems, since Azerbaijan liberated its lands, after fully restoring territorial integrity and sovereignty, the PACE parliamentarians started such an unfair campaign against our country.
Azerbaijan is a victorious state that has restored its territorial integrity. Therefore, with such attempts, the Council of Europe seriously damaged the values, existence, influence, and reputation of its Parliamentary Assembly in Europe and the world. I think it will not be possible to talk, establish a dialogue, explain the current situation within such an organization in the current situation.
The decision of the Azerbaijani delegation to suspend its cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its participation in the organization for an indefinite period is important and significant in several ways. In this analytical article, we will classify those aspects and focus on a number of important points in the current topic. We know that what we are going to emphasize should make all the poles that led to the making of the known decision, as well as each of those related to them, seriously think.
First, the well-known decision emphasizes the inadmissibility of some external influences in relation to issues related to the national interest and interests of our country. It is high time that the world takes into account the present reality. The action of our delegation at PACE is a kind of a wake-up call for the timely issue.
Secondly, the decision is an expression of the tough attitude of the Council of Europe and its separate structures to talk with Azerbaijan in the language of pressure. We believe that those structures should learn from the current incident.
Thirdly, it is not only the Council of Europe that should learn from the decision of our delegation at PACE. Let’s take into account that our country is represented in other organizations of the “old continent” as well as in the world, or has cooperative relations with those organizations. That is, they should also be sensitive to the seriousness of the current situation.
Fourthly, the step of our delegation should be a signal for the world’s leading organizations, in the sense that the united majority in those organizations looks like a camel with its head in the straw and not paying attention to its back. The representatives of this majority should understand that there are those who see very well from the outside and react strongly to the manipulation attempts of the institutions they represent, which do not go beyond nice expressions. Figuratively speaking, such people should rid themselves of being camels. They should take their heads out of the haystack and observe the surroundings carefully.
Fifth, the decision of our delegation to PACE to suspend its participation in the organization for an indefinite period indicates the crisis of the world’s prestigious institutions. Azerbaijan is an example of a country that reacted first to this crisis. The top echelon of the Council of Europe should take into account that the people they trust in their votes are deepening the crisis with their actions and behavior, injustice and injustice.
Sixth, the step of our delegation should be a signal not only for the Council of Europe, but also for the leading organizations of Europe and the world to get rid of their pro-Armenian attitude. These organizations have become a tool in the political games of Armenia and their patrons, and by taking an anti-Azerbaijani position, they are setting an extremely dangerous precedent for the world. Because their actions, to a large extent, support political adventurism in terms of separatism and extremism. This support can create a boomerang effect. In the present case, let’s take into account that there are potential foci of separatism in many parts of the “old continent”. The unfair position of PACE against Azerbaijan is a precedent for the emergence of these foci. If such a situation were to happen, it is frightening to predict the state of the political and moral industry of Europe.
Eighth, the Council of Europe and PACE must return to their destruction. In fact, for Azerbaijan today, completely separating from them is like drinking water. We have been a member of the organization since 2001 and are represented in its parliamentary assembly. The question is: what did this membership and representation bring us? Let’s put the question directly: what has the Council of Europe done for Azerbaijan? Actually, nothing. The institution realized the function of human rights, media freedom and other similar projects in our country, formed a local network and collected “materials” for pressure against Azerbaijan. He constantly sowed the seeds of prejudice. First of all, the Council of Europe should change its approach. His return to his destruction must take place in the present matter.
Of course, when thinking as a lawyer about the idea that “the Council of Europe has not done anything for Azerbaijan”, it is necessary to dwell on the Karabakh issue separately. As it is known, the institution has been silent on the occupation of Azerbaijani lands for a long time. The argument was that it was not competent to resolve the conflict. Because the Minks group of the OSCE deals with it. However, there was a human factor. About one million Azerbaijanis became refugees from their native land, the encroachment on the life needs and freedoms of our compatriots took place. So, weren’t they human?
Ninthly, the initiative put forward by Azerbaijan regarding the expansion of the composition of the UN Security Council is also valid from the point of view of the Council of Europe and the institutions of the world in general. In the sense that our country demands truth and justice. These institutions cannot put forward a principled approach to the issue.
It gives the impression that they are not institutions that make important decisions for the world, but a club of people gathered together only for certain goals and interests. For example, last year, a member of the European Parliament was caught taking drugs in the meeting hall. Undoubtedly, there are gays and transvestites among the deputies of the organization. Can such people be heralds of truth and justice? The issue is not in the sexual orientation of these people. They finally have the right to live their lives as they know how. The problem is that such people dictate how individual countries should live and evaluate a situation that does not correspond to their way of life as a violation of basic principles.
As a result, this approach becomes dogmatic and becomes the strategy of the organizations represented by those who promote it. That’s when the real disaster happens. So, in the present case, if we see the motives of Christian bigotry in the leading institutions of Europe and the world, this creates the impression that those who manipulate the religious factor are occupying the political scene. Undoubtedly, over time, the gays and transvestites we talked about may also be introduced. Although not directly to our country, we are observing separate manifestations of the current trend in relation to other countries. Human values, rights and justice are deformed and destroyed in such a complex configuration.
Finally, let’s dwell on the tenth and last point. In one of his speeches during the 44-day war, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated that representatives of international organizations cannot criticize Azerbaijan for waging an unjust war, because over the years, our country has succeeded in highlighting Armenia as an aggressor in the documents accepted by them. That is, it is not logical for those organizations to deny themselves. In the post-war period, we witnessed and continue to witness that some of these institutions took the path of self-denial. PACE is one of those who take the path of self-denial. It should be noted that the statement of the institution, even though it was on duty, stated that Azerbaijani lands, including Karabakh, were occupied by Armenians. At present, the pro-Armenian position taken by the institution also means that it is Azerbaijan, not Armenia, that is the aggressor and the perpetrator of violence. Of course, this approach, as a whole, makes the Council unprincipled. It is right that this approach turns the institution into a tool for injustice and injustice.
Another legal analytical approach is that the PACE, which turned a blind eye to the fact that the Karabakh and Lachin road was an uncontrolled territory for 30 years, did not pressure Armenia to send a representative to observe the real situation here, and put pressure on Azerbaijan, which eliminated the fact of occupation at its own expense, cleared its lands, and restored its territorial integrity. does. PACE thus puts forth a classic double standards approach. Against the fact of Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan and occupation of its territories, he made few statements that have only legal weight and no practical influence. Although PACE issued resolutions supporting the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, it did not take any steps to implement them. He did not discuss any sanctions against Armenia, which did not implement those resolutions, or even the issue of limiting the voting rights of the delegation.
PACE has turned a blind eye to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories for 30 years and has shown a special attitude to Armenia. In the relations with Azerbaijan, the institution was concerned only with issues related to Armenians, and considered only this topic as a priority.
In such a case, Azerbaijan, which has its own agenda in relations with PACE, cannot accept under any circumstances the neglect of its interests. If PACE does not consider the state interests of Azerbaijan, what effect can its delegation’s visit to our country bring?
Yes, when PACE is freed from its unprincipledness and chameleonism, then Azerbaijan can consider cooperation with it and the issue of representation in the organization. True, this does not seem like an easy task. Therefore, the period determined by our country is uncertain.
Author:Dr. Kamran Behbudov is working as Chief Teacher in theDepartment of Political Sciences of Azerbaijan University .He is also a political Analyst.
