KHANKENDI, Azerbaijan, May 1. The European
Parliament’s decision can be described as a diplomatic disgrace and
a diplomatic failure, Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of
Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the
Presidential Administration, told reporters during the visit of
representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Azerbaijan to
East Zangezur and Karabakh, Trend reports.


According to him, unfortunately, the European Parliament is
pursuing such a policy:


“First, we note that the decisions adopted by the European
Parliament have no significance for the Republic of Azerbaijan. The
Republic of Azerbaijan has no obligations to this institution.


Second, the European Parliament, as an institution, has no
specific mandate to express a position on such issues. In this
regard, it should be clearly stated: who or which states have
granted the European Union’s parliamentary institution such a
mandate to express similar opinions on regions or countries outside
the European Union and their problems? Therefore, overall, this is
of no consequence to us.”


So what does this mean? The Republic of Azerbaijan is taking
serious steps to ensure lasting peace and security in the region.
As you can see, in the context of the serious steps taken by
Azerbaijan toward deriving economic benefits from peace in the
process of normalizing Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, toward
promoting Armenia’s energy security, and less than a day after the
visit of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan to
Armenia, the European Union is adopting such a shameful,
diplomatically inappropriate resolution.


Thus, these individuals in the European Parliament must
understand that they are directly creating obstacles to the peace
process. We can assess their actions as destructive, provocative,
and a step toward dragging the region back into war and tension.
These are Armenia and Azerbaijan—as you can see, both states are
currently taking steps in line with the spirit of the decisions
adopted at the Washington summit. “

Hajiyev stressed that the initiative here lies with the Republic of
Azerbaijan, and our country is promoting a peace agenda:


However, we must once again note with regret that such steps are
being taken by the European Parliament. It is various political
groups that are speaking out with anti-Azerbaijani and Islamophobic
sentiments and taking such a position.”


“I would like to emphasize once again that this is of no
consequence to us, but we have made our firm position on this
matter clear through diplomatic channels. This was confirmed by
information released today to the press by the Azerbaijani
Parliament, which announced the suspension of all ties with the
European Parliament. I agree with your point that this also
undermines the European Union’s policy toward the South
Caucasus.”