Azerbaijan says EU resolution on closer ties with Armenia ‘unfounded, biased'

ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan on Thursday said that a resolution adopted by the EU on establishing closer ties with Armenia and voicing the need for a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan is “unfounded and biased.”

A commentary by Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada published by the ministry said the resolution adopted by the European Parliament a day earlier served as a “clear example of a recurrent double-standards approach against Azerbaijan.”

Claiming that the resolution is sponsored by multiple groups in the European Parliament influenced by Armenia and the Armenian lobby, Hajizada said the resolution is part of a “smear campaign” against Baku.

Hajizada further said the resolution contains “ludicrous and offensive” statements that go “beyond political ethics contradicting the essence of international relations,” as well as statements that violate Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“The European Parliament may prove a more useful institution if it addresses more serious issues plaguing Europe, such as racial discrimination, Islamophobia, xenophobia, extremism, and inhumane treatment of migrants, instead of interfering with the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” the statement also said.

“We remind MEPs (members of the European Parliament) that such resolutions, which have nothing to do with the European Parliament's declared values, completely invalidate its role as an institution,” he added.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution “on closer ties between the EU and Armenia and the need for a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” as Yerevan seeks closer ties with Europe in a drift from Russia.