MP slams EU Parliament member’s slandering Azerbaijan, calls her corrupt Armenian propagandist

Co-Chairman of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC), MP Tural Ganjaliyev has commented on the statement of MEP Marina Kaljurand, Co-Chairman of the European Parliament (EP) Delegation on relations with South Caucasus dated January 19, 2023.

“Unfortunately, Marina Kaljurand continues to slander Azerbaijan as a paid Armenian propagandist. In all my previous contacts with her, I had always hoped to come to constructive agreements for the sake of developing productive bilateral relations between the European and Azerbaijani parliaments. During her tenure as PCC co-chair, she frequently visited Armenia but never Azerbaijan, which is the largest country in the South Caucasus,” Ganjaliyev was quoted as saying by APA.

According to him, as an EP official responsible for the region, Kaljurand turned a blind eye to 30 years of brutal occupation by Armenia (of Azerbaijani lands), bloody ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis, massacres of tens of thousands of innocent Azerbaijanis, including the Khojaly genocide, destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage, planting of landmines on Azerbaijani territories, and last, but not least, the devastating environmental damage.

“Nevertheless, she has no moral authority to talk about the so-called 'humanitarian problems' in the region. The question arises, what prevented Ms Kaljurand from visiting Azerbaijan? Was this linked to her shadowy ties with and commitments to Armenian lobbyists? Given the recent corruption scandals in the European Parliament involving senior officials such as the notoriously pro-Armenian Eva Kylie, the answer is probably yes!” he said.

Ganjaliyev stressed that Kaljurand's latest anti-Azerbaijani speech is a manifestation of her hidden personal pro-Armenian position, which needs to be thoroughly investigated by EP.

“It is not appropriate for the European Parliament to delegate such a biased person to co-chair the South Caucasus Liaison Committee. Instead of fostering constructive relations with EU partners, her actions have exactly the opposite effect. I call on the European Parliament and other relevant institutions to investigate her actions and recall her from her position as Co-Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee,” he added.

MEP Kaljurand, during the discussion of the events on the Lachin road on January 19, called on the Azerbaijani authorities to stop the so-called “blockade" of the highway.

She acted as a mouthpiece of the Armenian biased propaganda about the bogus “humanitarian crisis” in Karabakh due to the protest action of Azerbaijanis on the Lachin road. Kaljurand is convinced that Baku should immediately start negotiations for a peace treaty with Armenia.

At the end of her remarks, she even warned the Azerbaijani government that “she is not frightened” of calls to stop her biased statements.

Kaljurand is seemingly unaware of or deliberately dismisses the efforts of Azerbaijan aimed at signing a peace treaty with Armenia. Baku has already submitted five basic principles to Yerevan that should make ground for signing the document. However, a response is yet to come from Armenia.

Moreover, Kaljurand should read news about safe and free passage of the vehicles belonging to the Russian peacekeeper and the International Committee of Red Cross through the Lachin road on a daily basis.