“We regard the resolutions on reports related to Azerbaijan as biased. These reports don’t reflect the development of the country. In recent years, the PACE has been demonstrating such a biased position towards some countries, especially Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia,” head of the Turkish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and member of the Assembly`s Bureau Talip Kucukcan.
The head of the Turkish delegation noted that the Assembly doesn't take into account the development of countries while discussing reports on them. “Each country has its own history and political reality. Unfortunately, PACE doesn’t pay attention to all these factors. Here, the abovementioned countries are labelled as authoritarian countries, where human rights are absent. But on the other hand, they remain silent on the cases of growing nationalism, Islamophobia in Europe. We see a biased approach to Azerbaijan at PACE. Some countries remain protected, positive reports are prepared on them, while others, like Azerbaijan, are on target. Two reports were adopted on Azerbaijan and as representatives of Turkey we voted against both reports. Unfortunately, an anti-Azerbaijani lobby formed in the Assembly. And it is a powerful and influential lobby."
Kucukcan said the initial versions of the reports were approved at a committee meeting in Paris, describing them as very positive. “These reports gave a picture of the situation in the country and outlined what has to be done in the future.”
“Democracy is not perfect in any country. Every country may have its own failings. Our goal in becoming a member of the Council of Europe was to conduct joint discussions on these shortcomings, review PACE recommendations and apply them in our country. None of the member states, even the UK, Germany and France, have perfect democracies. By joining PACE, we hoped to discuss our problems and find effective ways of addressing them,” said Kucukcan.
"The report, which was reviewed at the committee's meeting in Paris, was a very positive and good one. It highlighted what has already been done and what should be done. But, unfortunately, that report was completely amended by a certain group of people backed by the Armenian lobby to become an anti-Azerbaijani report before the voting at PACE. It is unacceptable.”
Kucukcan said that the delegations of Turkey and Azerbaijan at PACE are working in an atmosphere of mutual understanding, which shows that they are committed to the diplomacy of “two states, one nation”. “Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan act on the basis of mutual respect. The members of our delegations will continue to support Azerbaijan.”
“The allegations by the consortium of European newspapers and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) are a very serious defamation case against Azerbaijan. Many such claims have been raised to date, but there has been no evidence to support them. These allegations have been published in various newspapers. We know well who is standing behind these allegations,” said the head of the Turkish delegation to PACE.
“If Europe puts these allegations against Azerbaijan, then it is accusing itself because "bought for money by Azerbaijan" means at the same time that "European politicians and journalists sell their reputation and their positions for money". What I regret about is that none of the European politicians reacted to the allegations made by OCCRP and other media outlets. This is a disaster for Europe. This means that Europeans insulted themselves. It is quite regrettable for Europe to remain silent on these defamatory and biased allegations. In fact, when these allegations were raised, we should have heard protests like "these claims are not true, we do not take them for serious and the main purpose of those who put forward these allegations is to spoil relations between Europe and Azerbaijan". But that did not happen.”
Kucukcan noted that relations between the PACE and Azerbaijan have had highs and lows. “We can hardly say that these relations are good enough at this stage because there were both positive and negative decisions by a certain group of members concerning Azerbaijan, Turkey and other countries. What we really want is a PACE where we can freely discuss both positive and negative processes in our countries. But, unfortunately, today the PACE is trapped in biased views. Whereas the PACE has more than 300 MPs, only 50 or 60 people make a decision and accuse Azerbaijan. Therefore, we are worried about the future of the organization. At present, we see political groups struggling within the PACE. The decisions made by the organization are no longer taken seriously by states. Thus the decisions of this organization as well as the statements made by several radical MPs should not be seriously taken by Azerbaijan and Turkey. The management of this organization should seriously consider the future of the organization,” he said.
Kucukcan said that Azerbaijan and Turkey are the countries that “enjoy enough power and influence within PACE and that can say their word”. “Therefore, we must continue to be in PACE, state our position, and not to be the first to leave the meeting,” Kucukcan added.
