PACE looking to restore Azerbaijan’s mandate as Baku stands firm at prejudice

By Farman Aydin, AzerNEWS

Although the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) operates as a parliamentary branch of the Council of Europe, an international organisation of 46 states engaged in the protection of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, certain inadequacies are evident, especially in terms of its relations with Azerbaijan.

It should be recalled that this inadequacy resulted in the indefinite suspension of the cooperation of the Azerbaijani delegation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its participation in the organisation. It was on January 24 of this year that the Azerbaijani delegation made a statement in this regard, and since that time, Azerbaijan is not represented in PACE.

Well, based on the statement of the Azerbaijani side, it can be noted that since the period when Azerbaijan regained its independence after 1991, it has rendered great services in ensuring human rights and the rule of law. However, the biassed action of PACE against Azerbaijan, the calls of the European MPs about not accepting the credentials of the members of the Azerbaijani delegation, as well as the baseless statements made in a row, made the "Assembly, which is a defender of human rights" unreliable in the eyes of the official Baku.

The claim put forward by the Assembly was that official Baku did not fulfil its "main obligations". However, double standards and biassed claims of pro-Armenian politicians against Azerbaijan were clearly reflected behind the resolution put forward by PACE regarding the demand.

After September 2023, the European Parliament and PACE, as well as a number of Western institutions, started a number of biassed activities against Azerbaijan, such as black PR and smearing campaigns. Among the activists of such campaigns, the head of the German delegation to the PACE, German MP Frank Schwabe, was at the forefront with his anti-Turkish and anti-Azerbaijani position.

Schwabe, who was declared persona non grata by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, further damaged the reputation of the human rights organisation he represented by defending Armenians. The German politician, who tried to unjustly blame Azerbaijan, which has restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty, interfered in Azerbaijan's internal affairs in a manner inconsistent with its authority and grossly violated the rules of law.

Azerbaijan's historic victory over Armenian separatism created a severe trauma for biassed politicians like Schwabe. In fact, PACE, as an institution acting as a defender of human rights, instead of discussing the 30-year occupation of Armenia and the vandalism and human crimes it committed in Garabagh, discussed trivial issues related to the arrest of criminals and created useless arguments. Certainly, the anti-Azerbaijani politicians represented in the organisation made ground for this.

From today, PACE starts the autumn session for five days, but Azerbaijan is not represented in that session. PACE still cannot get out of the influence of Armenian separatism, which committed crimes in Garabagh for 30 years. This undermines the trust of the organisation day by day. It is clear that PACE wants to restore Azerbaijan's mandate in the assembly and is trying to take steps in this regard, albeit in a timid form. However, the pressure exerted by the organizations under the influence of the Armenian lobby neutralises the determination of PACE.

As an example, let us note that the recent meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York between the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset and Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov was followed by a petition from a dozen international human rights organizations addressed to Berset demanding that he set clear requirements for Baku.

It is clear that the petition emphasises the possibility of restoring Azerbaijan's relations with PACE if the so-called “conditions” are met.

Azerbaijan is unambiguously unchanging in its position. Official Baku, unlike some organisations, does not change its colour as a result of external influences. PACE knows that Azerbaijan is right in its position and therefore envisages the January 2025 session as the date for the restoration of relations.