Azerbaijan set to increase funds for protection of embassies abroad

POLITICS  06 June 2023 - 14:08

Azerbaijan proposes to increase the amount of funds allocated to ensure the security of embassies and diplomatic corps abroad.

MP Elshan Musayev made the relevant proposal on June 6 at the first plenary meeting of the extraordinary session of the Milli Majlis (parliament), Report informs.

According to him, strengthening the security of Azerbaijani embassies and diplomatic corps abroad is a priority issue.

“Some time ago, a terrorist attack was carried out on the Azerbaijani embassy in Iran. Therefore, all possible resources should be attracted to ensure the security of the diplomatic corps. These measures must be taken on the eve of the conclusion of a peace agreement with Armenia since we are still not immune from terrorist attacks by persons who cannot perceive the successes of Azerbaijan and are unreasonably at enmity with us.”

To recap, lately, Azerbaijani embassies have been subjected to multiple barbaric and terrorist attacks abroad.

London embassy attack

A group of London-based religious radicals attacked the Azerbaijani embassy in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2022.

In video footage from the kingdom’s capital, the group was seen removing the Azerbaijani flag from the building’s balcony, replacing it with an unknown religious banner, and chanting religious slogans.

“After the intervention of the local police, the group members were taken out of the building and detained. Embassy employees were not injured as a result of the incident,” Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement on the same day, referring to the event as an “act of vandalism.”

“The incident is being investigated by local law enforcement agencies. Additional information regarding the results of the investigation will be provided.

The Metropolitan Police of London arrested eight men of the group on suspicion of trespassing and criminal damage and took them into custody following the incident.

Paris, Beirut embassy attacks

On September 18, 2022, Armenian extremists in France stormed the building of the Azerbaijani embassy in Paris.

“French Armenian fanatics storm the building of the Azerbaijani embassy in Paris. But let's leave the Armenian barbarians aside. Mr Emmanuel Macron, shame on France, which does not protect embassies and ignores our fundamental requests related to our security,” Rahman Mustafayev, Azerbaijani Ambassador to France tweeted.

Similarly, an aggressive group of Armenian radicals attacked the Azerbaijani embassy in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on September 16, 2022.

The related video has gone viral on social media, which showed a crowd attempting to attack the diplomatic mission.

Azerbaijani Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva has condemned the attacks on diplomatic missions, urging the international community to take measures based on the norms and principles of international law to ensure the protection of embassies and diplomatic missions.

“We strongly condemn such heinous events, which contribute to the creation of an atmosphere of intolerance toward Azerbaijanis in Armenia and beyond, hinder the provision of sustainable peace between the parties, as well as the development of hateful and spiteful expressions by people of Armenian descent in public speeches and on social media that encourage hostility,” Aliyeva said.

She urged the Armenian government to uphold its international duties, refrain from discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, and end its anti-Azerbaijani policies as soon as possible.

Washington

A car of the Azerbaijani embassy in Washington was shot at sometime between the night of October 10 - the early hours of October 11, 2022, the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan reported.

According to the ministry, the embassy immediately informed the relevant US authorities and presented a video from the security cameras.

Besides, on October 12, the US charge d'affairs in Baku was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry in connection with the incident. Serious concern was expressed to the US official, and the requirement to ensure the security of the Azerbaijani diplomatic mission was brought to his attention.

As the ministry noted, the systematic nature of recent attacks on the diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan by radical members of the Armenian communities abroad, including attacks and acts of vandalism committed against the country's embassies in Washington, Paris, Beirut and other cities, is of serious concern. Ensuring the security of the country's diplomatic missions abroad is an obligation of the host country under international conventions.

Iran embassy attack

The worst embassy attack took place on January 27, 2023, when a gunman entered Azerbaijan’s embassy in the Iranian capital, killing a security officer. This violent incident appears to have taken place following numerous requests made by Azerbaijani diplomats to their Iranian colleagues to strengthen the security measures around the South Caucasian country’s embassy in Tehran.

The Embassy of Azerbaijan in Tehran was attacked on 27 January 2023, at around 08:00 am local time. The perpetrator passed by the guard post with a Kalashnikov rifle and opened fire inside the embassy, while its staff tried to neutralize him. The head of the embassy's security service, Orkhan Asgarov, was killed in the attack, while two guards were injured.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian had a phone talk in connection with the terrorist act committed against the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran.

Bayramov condemned the terrorist act against the Azerbaijani embassy in Iran, as a result of which one member of the diplomatic mission was killed and two were wounded, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry told APA.

The opposite side was once again reminded that on the basis of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Iranian side is obliged to protect the embassy building from all kinds of encroachments and ensure the safety of its employees.

The Iranian competent agencies were required to promptly bring to justice the person who committed the terrorist act, thoroughly investigate the terrorist act, identify and punish other participants involved in organising and committing the crime.

Caliber.Az