Azerbaijan Cautions European Parliament: Don't be Selective on 'Genocide'

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

In the wake of the European Parliament's (EP) resolution declaring Armenian deaths during World War I to be a "genocide", Azerbaijan has cautioned MEPs against adopting a selective view of history that could destabilise an "already sensitive region".

Vice-president of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, Elkhan Suleymanov, said the non-binding resolution was passed Wednesday despite the fact the institutions of Europe, including the EP, have refused to "call Armenia to order" over both the 1992 Khojaly Massacre and the massacre of Azeris 110 years ago.

And, he said, such resolutions risk inflaming historical enmities at a time of great tension throughout the region. He likened it to the rupture between Ukraine and Russia, which remains "very dangerous for future generations".

"Instead of promoting peaceful coexistence, tolerance, and solidarity between the Turkish and Armenian nations, you have stirred up mutual hatred and hostility," he said Thursday.

Suleymanov questioned the EP's priorities in giving time to historical events at the expense of dangerous ongoing conflicts. Armenia continues to occupy around 20 percent of Azerbaijan despite resolutions calling for its immediate withdrawel by a host of international bodies, including the United Nations Security Council and the EP. The fact that these resolutions have been ignored over the last 23 years, Suleymanov added, has prompted no renewed concern within these international forums.

"For countries outside the EU it is becoming rather difficult to understand your foreign policy," Suleymanov said the day after the "genocide" resolution.

"This might explain the rising disappointment and distrust many European citizens feel towards the European Parliament."

Summer 2014 saw renewed hostilities on the contact line between Armenia and Azerbaijan that left scores dead. The EP supports the work of the Minsk group in resolving this conflict, despite a lack of progress in the 23 years since its formation.

Turkey, meanwhile, has opposed the "genocide" resolution, saying that hundreds of thousands of both Turks and Christian Armenians lost their lives in the struggle between Ottoman forces and the Russian Empire during World War I.