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EUROPE SHOULD CHOOSE BETWEEN AZERBAIJANI ENERGY VECTORS AND DEMOCRACY
Friday, 29 August 2014 16:17
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1557:-europe-should-choose-between-azerbaijani-energy-vectors-and-democracy&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
When watching the video on the trilateral meeting in Sochi, which was
spread via information sources, at first glance it seems that the
Azerbaijani President felt himself secure there. It is no longer a
secret for anyone that Ilham Aliyev is only concerned about the
extension of his power. It isn't either a secret that he relies on the
support of Russia, as the West talks to him mainly about democracy.
This issue isn't primary for Russia - Putin's goal is to see
Azerbaijan in the Eurasian Union area and to contribute to the
Karabakh settlement on the Russian scenario.
In this regard, the direction of a number of statements
issued in Europe against the Aliyev clan after the Sochi meeting was
quite predictable. In particular, the phone call of the Council of
Europe's Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland with Ilham Aliyev was
nothing more than a reminder of respect for democracy and fundamental
human rights.
The Azerbaijani authorities' harassment and persecution of
intellectuals struggling for the elimination of the totalitarian
system and establishment of democratic principles in the country
cannot escape the attention of the international community. False and
unsubstantiated accusations are brought against these intellectuals
just because they dare to communicate with Armenian public figures,
supporting the natural right of a human being to live freely.
On the occasion of the arrest of prominent Azerbaijani
human rights activists Leyla and Arif Yunus, the West has repeatedly
sent signals to the Aliyev regime, calling upon the latter to put an
end to the violence against these people. According toTuran
Azerbaijani News Agency, the country's Prosecutor General prohibited
another human right activist, Rasul Jafarov, to leave the country. On
the evening of July 28, he was travelling to Tbilisi by train; the
next day, the Azerbaijani border guards stopped him at the
Azeri-Georgian border, prohibiting him to leave the country. And
before that, the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office blocked the
human rights activist's bank cards. Jafarov stated that he would try
to solve the issue of putting pressure on him at the court, institute
proceedings against the country's General Prosecutor's Office. He also
supposes that the authorities use the sanctions to respond to his
Strasbourg speeches. About a month ago, at the PACE session in
Strasbourg, the human rights activist presented a report on the human
rights violations in Azerbaijan.
Remarkable is Azerbaijani Turan Information Agency's
published information about the recent study by the Institute of Peace
and Democracy. As of May, the number of victims of political
repression in Azerbaijan amounted to 130, conscience prisoners - 41,
and political prisoners - 89. When making the list, the organization
was guided by the standards set by the Amnesty International human
rights structure.
On August 12, two days after the trilateral meeting in
Sochi, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland
called the Azerbaijani President. According to information sources,
after the phone call he issued a statement, in which he expressed deep
concern over the recent arrest of prominent human rights activists in
Azerbaijan. Mr. Jagland, in particular, recalled the Working Group
created in 2003 and consisting of representatives of the Presidential
Administration and the civil society, and noted that it had operated
by 2008. The CE Secretary General sent a signal to Aliyev, making him
understand that the Group's activities would soon be restored with the
participation of the CE representatives, which will allow to check the
Azerbaijani authorities' charges against the human rights activists.
It will also allow establishing a dialogue between the authorities and
the civil society.
Ilham Aliyev must do corresponding conclusions not only
from the above mentioned statement - the European human rights
activists placed an article disclosing Aliyev's policy at the Open
Democracy website. The Europeans record that prominent human rights
activists in Azerbaijan are subjected to harassment, but due to the
'caviar diplomacy', the authorities go unpunished. It is emphasized
that President Aliyev, arresting the human rights activists, is
radically destroying his country's civil society. The articles
mentioned the names of the arrested human rights activists: Leyla and
Arif Yunus, Hasan Huseynli, Rasul Jafarov, and Intigam Aliyev. A few
days after the publication of the article, the Azerbaijani sources
reported about the arrest of young activist Murad Adilov.
Azerbaijan pursues 21 public organizations - the Aliyev
regime accuses them of tax evasion and other economic crimes.
It is necessary to pay attention to the August 15
statement of the OSCE USA Mission, which called on Azerbaijan to stop
the arrests of peaceful activists. The latter was connected with the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict. Mission Leader Harry Robins
notified from Vienna the Azerbaijani authorities that it was necessary
to put an end to political persecution and to freezing bank accounts
of individuals and organizations - people are struggling for their
fundamental rights.
Such an emphasis isn't, surely, accidental - the
structure, which assumed the mission of peace settlement of the
Karabakh conflict, is well aware that the Azerbaijani authorities are
targeting the intellectuals who have a good idea of the content of the
Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict and propose to establish dialogue
between the parties. Just for this reason they are persecuted by their
own authorities.Let's recall also that an educational component is
available, as a rule, in the statements and appeals by the West, in
particular, European institutions, addressed to Azerbaijan.Thus, the
statement of the USA mission at the OSCE reads that any country
striving for stability and prosperity should respect the freedoms
stated by the human rights activists.
In the meantime, Ilham Aliyev continues to ignore these
warnings and calls, while Azerbaijan is chairing the Council of
Europe's Committee of Ministers. Maybe it treats so, considering the
European response to every Russian initiative in the process of the
Karabakh conflict peaceful settlement.
Only one conclusion can be made from this - Europe should
finally choose between the Azerbaijani energy vectors and democracy.
The international community should apply appropriate sanctions against
Azerbaijan, first of all, depriving it of the right to exercise the
presidency of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers.
Generally, this country has nothing to do with the Council of Europe
and other international structures, which are designed to protect
human rights and to develop democratic institutions and civil society.
Ruzan ISHKHANIAN
Friday, 29 August 2014 16:17
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1557:-europe-should-choose-between-azerbaijani-energy-vectors-and-democracy&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
When watching the video on the trilateral meeting in Sochi, which was
spread via information sources, at first glance it seems that the
Azerbaijani President felt himself secure there. It is no longer a
secret for anyone that Ilham Aliyev is only concerned about the
extension of his power. It isn't either a secret that he relies on the
support of Russia, as the West talks to him mainly about democracy.
This issue isn't primary for Russia - Putin's goal is to see
Azerbaijan in the Eurasian Union area and to contribute to the
Karabakh settlement on the Russian scenario.
In this regard, the direction of a number of statements
issued in Europe against the Aliyev clan after the Sochi meeting was
quite predictable. In particular, the phone call of the Council of
Europe's Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland with Ilham Aliyev was
nothing more than a reminder of respect for democracy and fundamental
human rights.
The Azerbaijani authorities' harassment and persecution of
intellectuals struggling for the elimination of the totalitarian
system and establishment of democratic principles in the country
cannot escape the attention of the international community. False and
unsubstantiated accusations are brought against these intellectuals
just because they dare to communicate with Armenian public figures,
supporting the natural right of a human being to live freely.
On the occasion of the arrest of prominent Azerbaijani
human rights activists Leyla and Arif Yunus, the West has repeatedly
sent signals to the Aliyev regime, calling upon the latter to put an
end to the violence against these people. According toTuran
Azerbaijani News Agency, the country's Prosecutor General prohibited
another human right activist, Rasul Jafarov, to leave the country. On
the evening of July 28, he was travelling to Tbilisi by train; the
next day, the Azerbaijani border guards stopped him at the
Azeri-Georgian border, prohibiting him to leave the country. And
before that, the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office blocked the
human rights activist's bank cards. Jafarov stated that he would try
to solve the issue of putting pressure on him at the court, institute
proceedings against the country's General Prosecutor's Office. He also
supposes that the authorities use the sanctions to respond to his
Strasbourg speeches. About a month ago, at the PACE session in
Strasbourg, the human rights activist presented a report on the human
rights violations in Azerbaijan.
Remarkable is Azerbaijani Turan Information Agency's
published information about the recent study by the Institute of Peace
and Democracy. As of May, the number of victims of political
repression in Azerbaijan amounted to 130, conscience prisoners - 41,
and political prisoners - 89. When making the list, the organization
was guided by the standards set by the Amnesty International human
rights structure.
On August 12, two days after the trilateral meeting in
Sochi, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland
called the Azerbaijani President. According to information sources,
after the phone call he issued a statement, in which he expressed deep
concern over the recent arrest of prominent human rights activists in
Azerbaijan. Mr. Jagland, in particular, recalled the Working Group
created in 2003 and consisting of representatives of the Presidential
Administration and the civil society, and noted that it had operated
by 2008. The CE Secretary General sent a signal to Aliyev, making him
understand that the Group's activities would soon be restored with the
participation of the CE representatives, which will allow to check the
Azerbaijani authorities' charges against the human rights activists.
It will also allow establishing a dialogue between the authorities and
the civil society.
Ilham Aliyev must do corresponding conclusions not only
from the above mentioned statement - the European human rights
activists placed an article disclosing Aliyev's policy at the Open
Democracy website. The Europeans record that prominent human rights
activists in Azerbaijan are subjected to harassment, but due to the
'caviar diplomacy', the authorities go unpunished. It is emphasized
that President Aliyev, arresting the human rights activists, is
radically destroying his country's civil society. The articles
mentioned the names of the arrested human rights activists: Leyla and
Arif Yunus, Hasan Huseynli, Rasul Jafarov, and Intigam Aliyev. A few
days after the publication of the article, the Azerbaijani sources
reported about the arrest of young activist Murad Adilov.
Azerbaijan pursues 21 public organizations - the Aliyev
regime accuses them of tax evasion and other economic crimes.
It is necessary to pay attention to the August 15
statement of the OSCE USA Mission, which called on Azerbaijan to stop
the arrests of peaceful activists. The latter was connected with the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict. Mission Leader Harry Robins
notified from Vienna the Azerbaijani authorities that it was necessary
to put an end to political persecution and to freezing bank accounts
of individuals and organizations - people are struggling for their
fundamental rights.
Such an emphasis isn't, surely, accidental - the
structure, which assumed the mission of peace settlement of the
Karabakh conflict, is well aware that the Azerbaijani authorities are
targeting the intellectuals who have a good idea of the content of the
Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict and propose to establish dialogue
between the parties. Just for this reason they are persecuted by their
own authorities.Let's recall also that an educational component is
available, as a rule, in the statements and appeals by the West, in
particular, European institutions, addressed to Azerbaijan.Thus, the
statement of the USA mission at the OSCE reads that any country
striving for stability and prosperity should respect the freedoms
stated by the human rights activists.
In the meantime, Ilham Aliyev continues to ignore these
warnings and calls, while Azerbaijan is chairing the Council of
Europe's Committee of Ministers. Maybe it treats so, considering the
European response to every Russian initiative in the process of the
Karabakh conflict peaceful settlement.
Only one conclusion can be made from this - Europe should
finally choose between the Azerbaijani energy vectors and democracy.
The international community should apply appropriate sanctions against
Azerbaijan, first of all, depriving it of the right to exercise the
presidency of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers.
Generally, this country has nothing to do with the Council of Europe
and other international structures, which are designed to protect
human rights and to develop democratic institutions and civil society.
Ruzan ISHKHANIAN