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Fatima Latifova

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Azerbaijan's suspension of cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at the beginning of this year was welcome news for many anti-Azerbaijan forces.

Thus, there were a number of forces that claimed that the West would cut ties with Azerbaijan and that Europe would impose heavy sanctions against Baku.

However, there were state officials who saw that the Azerbaijani government did not violate any international law, showed a humane approach to all issues, and stated that unfair arguments were raised against official Baku in the Parliamentary Assembly.

In recent days, allegations regarding Azerbaijan's resumption of PACE activities have caused fear, especially in the Armenian media. It is not a secret that the tension of Azerbaijan's relations with the West was mostly in favour of Armenia and France.

But is Azerbaijan really returning to PACE?

Speaking to Azernews, Azerbaijani MP Elman Nasirov said in his comment that the reason for the deterioration of these relations was the unjust and biased accusations of PACE officials against Azerbaijan.

"The responsibility for spoiling relations between the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Azerbaijan falls on the other side. PACE officials unjustly applied a harsh punishment mechanism against Azerbaijan," he said.

The deputy noted that Azerbaijan was considered guilty for liberating its lands from the Armenian occupation.

"Supposedly, Azerbaijan's fault is that it liberated its land from occupation, and the Armenians living in Garabagh left the territory for this reason only. This is a very ridiculous and absurd accusation. It should be noted that no Armenian was forcibly removed from Garabagh. They were even offered Azerbaijani citizenship," Nasirov said.

He stressed that Azerbaijan will not ask anyone to return to this organisation.

"The state of Azerbaijan will not ask anyone to be recalled to PACE under any circumstances. Western institutions made this mistake themselves and should correct it," said the deputy.

The deputy recalled Azerbaijan's past relations with the European Parliament. He noted that the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, harshly criticised European parliamentarians.

"Some time ago, such unfair steps were taken in the European Parliament in relation to Azerbaijan. At that time, our relations with the European Parliament were completely severed. A little later, European parliamentarians came to Azerbaijan. The President of Azerbaijan received them and criticised them very sharply for their unfair position. After that, steps were taken to restore our relations," he said.

Elman Nasirov noted the support of Turkiye and Georgia for Azerbaijan. The deputy said that PACE will make the final decision.

"Parliaments of Turkiye, Georgia, and other countries also appealed to PACE to reconsider its unfair decision regarding Azerbaijan. Now, as they say, the ball is in PACE's court," he said.

The Azerbaijani deputy drew attention to the influence of the European Union on PACE. Azerbaijan's cooperation with the European Union is at a high level.

"There may be certain effects on PACE in the European Union as well. Because today, relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union are at a very high level. Especially in the field of energy, our cooperation has great potential, and this potential is being used successfully," he said.

Elman Nasirov drew attention to the meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, with the representative of the EU for Central Asia, Terhi Hakala. He said that Azerbaijan acts as a friend on fundamental issues with the West.

"Yesterday, our Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with the representative of the European Union for Central Asia, and this meeting once again proved that there are serious improvements in Azerbaijan's relations with Europe, and we take a friendly position on fundamental issues," the deputy emphasised.

MP Nasirov said that in the future, PACE will pay close attention to its relations with Azerbaijan.

"When these facts are taken into account, it can be considered that certain influence mechanisms can be implemented on the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and relevant steps can be taken to review the relations with Azerbaijan and return the relations to their normal state," he concluded.

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