Azerbaijan shows it has no need for unsolicited advice and guidance Local pundits talk to Caliber.Az

Complete misunderstanding of realities on the ground is shown by PACE's insufficient steps, which made our country take a decisive step. Although it has tried to do everything to prevent this from happening. Freezing the cooperation with PACE is only the result of the biased policy pursued by the West regarding Azerbaijan.

What is the opinion of the Azerbaijani experts interviewed by Caliber.Az?

PACE has clearly lost the significance it had when it was created, according to MP and political scientist Rasim Musabekov.

"Membership in PACE had a certain exemplary significance for Azerbaijan. It still meant that the country belonged to the circle of European states, so I think it is not worth celebrating the fact that we have practically left this structure.

But it is not for Azerbaijan to stay there as a whipping boy. The decision was indeed forced, but Azerbaijan took it as a matter of principle, and I think that the fact of our presence or absence as a member of PACE does not determine our place in international politics, we have something to do in other structures. And in this sense, I think this decision will not have any consequences for Azerbaijan," the political scientist believes.

However, Musabekov adds that it will be interesting to see what PACE does next.

"Because before, when they had nothing to do, they started picking on Azerbaijani affairs. So let them go and now they will deal with Armenia, which is ready to accept their unsolicited advice. And Azerbaijan has shown that it does not want any advice.

So what now? Since Azerbaijan has been pursuing an independent, autonomous policy, it will continue to do so, regardless of any mishaps with PACE," Musabekov stressed.

Fariz Ismayilzadeh, vice-rector of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, believes that PACE's actions are extremely unfriendly and unconstructive towards Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan has always tried to maintain cooperation with European institutions at a high level, but unfortunately, after the victory in the 44-day war, a situation arose when many European countries and many political circles began to be jealous of us. If we look at the list of those countries who voted against Azerbaijan in PACE, by and large they are dwarf states on the map of Europe: a number of Scandinavian countries, Monaco, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Iceland and others. All these states are far from our region and do not understand our problems and realities. And, of course, such decisions of PACE show some kind of Christian solidarity, racism and discrimination against Azerbaijan, double standards. Because during all the years of occupation of Azerbaijani territories such measures were not applied to Armenia for some reason. Therefore, such steps of PACE should be considered as a certain attack against the Islamic world," Ismailzadeh said.

According to political scientist Ilgar Velizadeh, the process of pressuring Azerbaijan didn't start yesterday or even the day before. Especially if we take into account that last year the EU adopted a rather odious resolution condemning Baku and deliberately setting impossible conditions for Azerbaijan with regard to the "Lachin Corridor" and the inhabitants of the Karabakh region.

"After September 2023, the situation in the region has changed, on the ground, but unfortunately not in the minds of those who stamp these resolutions in Europe. In fact, they are proposing to turn the situation around and make completely unreasonable, absurd demands of Azerbaijan. Of course, this crisis in the PACE is better understood as a crisis in Baku's relations with some Western countries, which are the clients of this tension. In particular, we are talking about France, whose deputies are very active on this issue, and their colleagues from other countries are under their influence.

It seems to me that this crisis in relations with the PACE was not provoked by Azerbaijan, so it should not be ended by Azerbaijan. Of course, if the pressure continues, Azerbaijan will have no choice but to completely stop its cooperation with PACE. But I think if common sense prevails and influential political circles in PACE, apart from France and those who are involved in it, can reassess the situation, then we can talk about changing this negative trend. But, unfortunately, at the moment there is no such feeling and the crisis in relations is growing," Velizadeh said.