Azerbaijani community urges Dutch MPs to abandon unilateralism

The Azerbaijani community in the Netherlands appealed to the House of Representatives (Lower Chamber) of the Dutch Parliament.

In the letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament Vera Bergkamp on behalf of the "Ana Veten" Union of Azerbaijani Women of Europe, the Azerbaijani community of 15,000 Azerbaijanis residing in the Netherlands expresses their concern in connection with worsening of the situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the unilateral, biased position of the Lower Chamber on this issue.

Our compatriots called on the Dutch MPs to take an unbiased, fair, and balanced position towards Azerbaijan and assess the events objectively, the State Committee for Work with Diaspora told Azertag.

"As citizens of the Netherlands, we call on you and your fellow MPs to objectively assess what is happening in our historic homeland, where our relatives and friends live, and to take a balanced position aimed at peace and not at deepening conflict in the South Caucasus region. We are concerned that the lower house is not responding to Armenia's persistent and systematic violations of international humanitarian law. Despite the signing by the Armenian Prime Minister of the declaration on ending the war on November 10, 2020, official Yerevan continues the policy of mining Azerbaijani territories. Last August, 2,728 anti-personnel mines produced in 2021 were found in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. In other words, while your parliament is adopting resolutions in support of Armenia, this country continues the criminal policy of mining, as a result of which 268 people, including 9 children, one woman, and 3 journalists have been killed," the letter says. It was also noted that the unacceptable behaviour of the Dutch MPs has resulted in Armenia continuing to commit bloody crimes.

It was stressed that after the end of the war in 2020 only 8 per cent of the territories liberated from the 28-year Armenian occupation have been demined, and 750,000 Azerbaijani refugees and displaced persons still cannot return to their places of residence in Karabakh.

"This is a serious economic, social and humanitarian problem for the whole society. After all, our relatives are among those people. Don't they have any rights? Or human rights are the monopoly of the Armenian people?" the letter to the Speaker reads.

It was noted that the Lower Chamber has not reacted so far to the violation of international humanitarian law by Armenia, transferring weapons to the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan through the Lachin corridor opened only for humanitarian purposes. The letter stresses that during the First Karabakh war in 1991-1994 about 4,000 Azerbaijanis went missing, and recently there have been reports in the press about the illegal sending of Iranian military specialists to Karabakh.

"We look with horror and pain at the images of mass graves of our compatriots in the territories liberated from occupation. Why won't your parliament influence Armenia to hand over to Azerbaijan all information about the missing persons as well as maps of mass graves so that our compatriots are buried according to our traditions?" the diaspora called for a response from the Speaker.

The letter stressed that the Dutch MPs turn a blind eye to the fact that Armenia prevents the opening of transport links between the western regions of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan region, in violation of the statement of November 10, 2020: "For almost 30 years, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and its 300,000 residents are under blockade, communication with it is possible only by air."

The Azerbaijani diaspora accused the Dutch MPs of taking a biased and highly prejudiced position on the situation in the Lachin region: "You have accused Azerbaijan without asking about the real situation, but guided solely by the Armenian point of view. This approach will not contribute to the normalisation of the situation in the South Caucasus region, the achievement of peace between the Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijanis."

Our compatriots urged the Speaker of the House of Representatives to receive a delegation from the Azerbaijani diaspora to discuss the important issues mentioned in the letter.