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The co-chair of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee makes a statement on the biased position of the members of the European Parliament

24 March 2021 22:24 (UTC +04:00)

On March 23 this year, members of the European Parliament (EP), Co-Chair of the EU-South Caucasus Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Marina Kaljurand, MEP Permanent Rapporteur on Azerbaijan Yelena Zovko and EP Permanent Rapporteur on Armenia Andrey Kovatchev issued a joint statement, The Press and Public Relations Department of the Milli Majlis told APA.

Co-chair of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Javanshir Feyziyev made a statement on the document.

Javanshir Feyziyev said in a statement that the above-mentioned joint document, which contains unfounded allegations by Human Rights Watch (HRW) about the mistreatment of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan, shows that members of the European Parliament (EP) prefer to voice the bias of some institutions rather than the real situation. Before making such an unfounded statement, it would be more logical for the EP rapporteurs to obtain information from their Azerbaijani counterparts on these allegations using existing cooperation platforms.

We bring to the attention of the members of the European Parliament who signed the Joint Statement that all Armenian prisoners of war and civilians detained in Azerbaijan were treated in accordance with the requirements of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. They were provided with the necessary medical care and underwent a medical examination during their detention. Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross have been visiting all Armenian captives regularly since October 2020, and finally all prisoners of war have been returned to Armenia in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Tripartite Declaration of 10 November 2020.

Members of the Armenian sabotage group sent to Azerbaijan by Armenia after the signing of the Tripartite Declaration to engage in provocative and terrorist activities and detained by Azerbaijan cannot be considered prisoners of war and are liable under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. These detainees are also treated in accordance with international human rights and Azerbaijani law.

We also consider the claim in the Joint Statement that Azerbaijan did not take appropriate steps within its obligations under the European Court of Human Rights' interim measures to be unfounded. Javanshir Feyziyev regretted that the authors of the statement made such a claim without fully investigating the details of the case. Thus, in keeping with its obligations, Azerbaijan has provided the ECHR with relevant information on the detention and health of persons accused of using force against our citizens and committing terrorist acts within the framework of the interim measures mechanism.

Referring to HRW's "report" based on biased and baseless arguments, which claims to adhere to international humanitarian law, we would like to bring to the attention of the EP members who made baseless accusations against Azerbaijan that about 4,000 Azerbaijanis went missing during the First Karabakh War. . However, to date, neither the European Parliament nor other European institutions have been interested in the fate of Azerbaijanis held captive by Armenians.

Unfortunately, the EP rapporteurs are not concerned about the large-scale mining of Azerbaijani territories, which have been under Armenian occupation for almost 30 years, and Armenia's refusal to provide mine maps to Azerbaijan after the liberation of the occupied territories. We would like to draw the attention of the EP rapporteurs to the fact that 20 people have been killed and 80 seriously injured in the minefields in the liberated areas since the end of hostilities under the Tripartite Declaration.

Javanshir Feyziyev, MP, Co-Chair of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, said in a statement that during our post-war contacts, our colleagues in the European Parliament were repeatedly invited to Azerbaijan to get acquainted with the real situation. However, it is unfortunate that the members of the European Parliament are biased without visiting the region, without learning the truth and based on false information from Armenian sources, and undermines the confidence of the Azerbaijani society in the European Parliament.