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AZERBAIJAN CRITICISES EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT'S BACKTRACKING OVER RECENT PRESIDENTIAL POLL
Sacramento Bee, CA
Oct 24 2013
By Azerbaijan Monitor
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 24, 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ --
Azerbaijan has suspended its activities in the EuroNest Parliamentary
Assembly after the European Parliament (EP) defied the findings of
its own observer mission to the recent Presidential elections in
Azerbaijan to pass a resolution critical of the poll.
Observer missions from both the EP and the Council of Europe found
the poll, which re-elected President Ilham Aliyev on October 9th,
to be "free, fair and transparent". But in the past week the EP has
passed a motion, which contradicts the findings of its own people on
the ground in Azerbaijan.
It has now determined that the election was held in "non-conformity
with the OSCE standards and non-fulfilment of OSCE requirements",
a reversal, which has sparked a furious reaction from the Head of
the Azerbaijan delegation to Euronest PA, Elkhan Suleymanov.
He has questioned how the EP could base a ruling on "the partial
resolution of the OSCE ODIHR monitoring mission" despite the fact that
"three out of four international institutions monitoring the elections
- European Parliament, PA of Council of Europe and OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly - have provided their positive evaluation."
He added that this is not the first such inconsistency on the part
of the EP. In July it declared it didn't need to send a monitoring
mission to Azerbaijan at all, before announcing a dramatic about
face on the eve of the election, which, Suleymanov says, amounted to
"political sabotage."
The election was monitored by almost 50,000 election monitors from
around the world and was won by Aliyev in a landslide. The emphatic
outcome was consistent with exit polling conducted by respected
American polling firm Arthur J. Finkelstein, based on 60,000 interviews
conducted at 835 polling stations.
Suleymanov also decried a contradiction by the European Parliament
over the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite the fact
that the European Parliament - like the United Nations, OSCE and
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - has passed
resolutions condemning Armenia's occupation, its President, Martin
Schulz, now says "Azerbaijan and Armenia themselves should solve this
complex issue."
"This is absurd," Suleymanov said in response. He pointed out that
Schultz's comments totally contradict the approach of the Minsk group,
which is dedicated to finding a political solution to the occupation
involving regional and international involvement.
Armenia continues to occupy 20 percent of Azerbaijan territory
following a conflict two decades ago that displaced one million
Azerbaijanis
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/24/5848339/azerbaijan-criticises-european.html
From: A. Papazian
Sacramento Bee, CA
Oct 24 2013
By Azerbaijan Monitor
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 24, 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ --
Azerbaijan has suspended its activities in the EuroNest Parliamentary
Assembly after the European Parliament (EP) defied the findings of
its own observer mission to the recent Presidential elections in
Azerbaijan to pass a resolution critical of the poll.
Observer missions from both the EP and the Council of Europe found
the poll, which re-elected President Ilham Aliyev on October 9th,
to be "free, fair and transparent". But in the past week the EP has
passed a motion, which contradicts the findings of its own people on
the ground in Azerbaijan.
It has now determined that the election was held in "non-conformity
with the OSCE standards and non-fulfilment of OSCE requirements",
a reversal, which has sparked a furious reaction from the Head of
the Azerbaijan delegation to Euronest PA, Elkhan Suleymanov.
He has questioned how the EP could base a ruling on "the partial
resolution of the OSCE ODIHR monitoring mission" despite the fact that
"three out of four international institutions monitoring the elections
- European Parliament, PA of Council of Europe and OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly - have provided their positive evaluation."
He added that this is not the first such inconsistency on the part
of the EP. In July it declared it didn't need to send a monitoring
mission to Azerbaijan at all, before announcing a dramatic about
face on the eve of the election, which, Suleymanov says, amounted to
"political sabotage."
The election was monitored by almost 50,000 election monitors from
around the world and was won by Aliyev in a landslide. The emphatic
outcome was consistent with exit polling conducted by respected
American polling firm Arthur J. Finkelstein, based on 60,000 interviews
conducted at 835 polling stations.
Suleymanov also decried a contradiction by the European Parliament
over the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite the fact
that the European Parliament - like the United Nations, OSCE and
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - has passed
resolutions condemning Armenia's occupation, its President, Martin
Schulz, now says "Azerbaijan and Armenia themselves should solve this
complex issue."
"This is absurd," Suleymanov said in response. He pointed out that
Schultz's comments totally contradict the approach of the Minsk group,
which is dedicated to finding a political solution to the occupation
involving regional and international involvement.
Armenia continues to occupy 20 percent of Azerbaijan territory
following a conflict two decades ago that displaced one million
Azerbaijanis
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/24/5848339/azerbaijan-criticises-european.html
From: A. Papazian