President Aliyev condemns anti-Azerbaijan campaign in PACE PHOTO

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has strongly condemned what he calls a biased campaign against his country in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

This came during a recent diplomatic meeting with Rosen Dimitrov Zhelyazkov, President of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, Azertag reported on March 4.

Rosen Dimitrov Zhelyazkov conveyed the greetings of the President of Bulgaria and his congratulations to the head of state on the victory in the presidential election. On his behalf, he also congratulated President Ilham Aliyev on his resounding victory in the presidential election, emphasizing that it reflects the absolute support of the Azerbaijani people for the policy of the head of state.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked him for the congratulations and asked Rosen Dimitrov Zhelyazkov to pass on his greetings to President Rumen Radev.

Rosen Dimitrov Zhelyazkov praised the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria on the basis of strategic partnership, noting the cooperation of the two countries` parliamentary delegations in international institutions. He touched on the ongoing restoration and construction works in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. The President of the National Assembly congratulated Azerbaijan on hosting the COP29 and stressed the importance of the green and renewable energy projects implemented by Azerbaijan, despite its rich fossil fuel resources. Expressing Bulgaria`s intention to join the Black Sea Submarine Cable Project, he hailed the successful cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector as a whole.

President Ilham Aliyev reiterated Azerbaijan's full restoration of territorial integrity and sovereignty in accordance with the principles of international law. He noted that following this, a large-scale campaign against Azerbaijan was launched by a number of European institutions, characterizing it as malicious. The head of state highlighted a biased and smear campaign against Azerbaijan conducted in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, emphasizing that such an approach is intolerable for the Azerbaijani delegation. He noted that parliaments from a number of countries had expressed their stance on this injustice.

The President of Azerbaijan even recalled that after the end of the 44-day Patriotic War in 2020, Armenia did not show a positive attitude towards Azerbaijan's efforts to advance peace. Instead, Armenia pursued a policy of arming and militarization in Karabakh, continuing to send large quantities of mines and ammunition to those territories.

Touching upon the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the importance of high-level reciprocal visits and meetings, recalling with satisfaction his meeting with Rumen Radev in Serbia last December.

The head of state positively assessed Bulgaria's intention to join the Black Sea Submarine Cable Project as part of the green energy project, adding that this initiative was backed by all the states participating in the project.

President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the successful Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council held in Baku and underscored Azerbaijan's role as a pan-European energy supplier. The President noted that Azerbaijani gas is supplied to eight European countries.

During the conversation, they hailed the operations of the SOCAR's office in Bulgaria within the context of cooperation in the energy sector between the two countries.