MP Elkhan Suleymanov letter to the European Parliament
To the attention of,
Martin Schulz,
President, European Parliament
Linda McAvan,
Chairman, Development Committee
Elmar Brock,
Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee
Honourable presidents,
A letter has been brought to the attention of our delegation which represents a recommendation made by the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group in the European Parliament to the President of the European Parliament. The letter advises President Schulz to avoid sending any electoral observation mission to Azerbaijan in November 2015 and makes a series of highly negative remarks about our country.
To the attention
of,
Martin
Schulz,
President, European Parliament
Linda
McAvan,
Chairman, Development Committee
Elmar
Brock,
Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee
Honourable
presidents,
A letter has been brought to the attention of
our delegation which represents a recommendation made by the Democracy Support
and Election Coordination Group in the European Parliament to the President of
the European Parliament. The letter advises President Schulz to avoid sending
any electoral observation mission to Azerbaijan in November 2015 and makes a
series of highly negative remarks about our country.
This letter comes in the wake of an
unprecedented campaign against our country in the European Parliament.
Conferences and seminars, events and debates, hundreds of letters and emails
have been aimed at damaging utterly the image of Azerbaijan with slanderous
accusations and unproven allegations. As the Baku I European Games were
unfolding, an event of European sportsmanship and positive cooperation, some
MEPs it seems were bent on tarnishing its image. We are happy they did not
succeed and that the athletes? merits could be celebrated throughout the
continent.
Still, this is a limit your Parliament has
reached. We can only conclude you are actively trying ? and are close to
succeeding ? to destroy all good relations between our sides. To ruin the
international image of Azerbaijan ? and that only because you fully allow
yourself to be manipulated and to believe all the lies which arrive in your
emails.
If you truly care about democracy, transparency
and good relations, then please answer my questions. I assure you, we will make
sure to distribute them to our public, the same way we will distribute this
letter.
First of all, please comment on the fact that,
despite claiming knowledge on the situation on Azerbaijan, the Election Group
fails even to mention that in November we will be having legislative elections,
and not presidential ones. You
approach our country with such anger, hatred, and ignorance that you even
forgot that parliamentary elections will be held on 1st November
2015, and noted that observation mission shouldn?t be sent to “presidential elections on 1stNovember 2015? in Azerbaijan. Don?t you declare your final intention and target
from now on launching unrests in Azerbaijan as in Ukraine and on violent change
of power in Azerbaijan in 2018 by making this “accidental and technical?
mistake?!
Not
to mention the fact that our government has not yet even sent your House an
official and formal letter of invitation, as we have done so in all the past
electoral years! Please let us know, dear presidents, why is the verdict
already taken? Doesn?t it demonstrate your disrespect and crafty hegemony
against Azerbaijan? Isn?t it a more strong dictatorship than Soviet dictatorship?
Second, the European Parliament mission coming
to Azerbaijan during the 2013 elections found them to be both reasonably free
and fair. Why then do you claim the background for such a democratic exercise
is absent from our country? Clearly, you are ignoring the very verdict of the
team of Members you sent? Are you seriously giving a verdict on personal position?
Every positei evidence you could be using ? you prefer to ignore it!
Indeed, the 2013 Report of both the EP mission,
but also OSCE PA and PACE teams all were favourable. They deemed the elections
fair and free and as meeting democratic standards. How can you then make the
highly negative statements, without even a basis for your evidence? Why are you
already concluding on a matter which is not yet to happen, based on false
accusations from events in the past which your own House has described as
positive?!?
Should be understand then that there is an
anti-Azeri bias in the European Parliament? Shall we resign ourselves that the
forces trying so hard to push the EU and Azerbaijan in different directions,
are winning? Who, we wonder, can profit from that?
We have tried to continue out cooperation with
your House, through Euronest, despite these issues in the past. Despite
ignoring our position, our letters and our demands, we will try to find some
ways to fight these attacks. Our MPs, after the democratic and fair elections
to take place in November, from whatever parties and political groups, we are
sure, will still want to cooperate with Euronest. Do you?
Presidents, representatives of the European
Union, you have almost lost all your goodwill and influence in Ukraine! You are
close to losing Moldova to the anti-European parties. Georgia is distancing
itself as well. Nobody listens to you in Belarus. And Armenia has already
turned its back on your treaties and values. It seems with Azerbaijan, you are
trying hard to push us away? How are we to understand this? As a bias against
our culture, our religion? Is the European Parliament now a house of
intolerance and hatred?
You claim to value democracy and rights. Yet
you ignore our democratic standards. You even ignore the reports of your own
MEPs. You dictate in resolutions and debates things that have no basis in
reality, and then refuse to come and see the reality for yourselves. It seems
you are trying hard to build a wall of ignorance around yourselves. But, let me
warn you, such walls often become prisons, when you will be forgotten by all
your neighbours!
The Eastern Partnership is tottering
on the edge of uselessness. Your actions are not helping. In your letter, you
threaten MEPs with Code of Conduct by prohibiting them to observe elections in
their personal capacity. If you prohibit MEPs to freely express their opinions,
aren?t you ashamed of accusing other countries of violating freedoms of speech
and expression?!
I invite you, presidents, to answer my
questions and to recant your groundless accusations. I assure you that your
answers will be given full transparency to our constituents and our voters.
Perhaps you will seek to ignore our delegation, but if you claim to care about
democratic values in Azerbaijan, it might be the time that you start thinking
about the right of Azeri citizens and politicians alike not to be treated with
the scorn some European politicians, MEPs in particular, are showing towards
our country!
With regards,
Elkhan Suleymanov
President of the Azerbaijan Delegation to
Euronest
