MEP: Elections in Stepanakert are a provocation of dictator Aliyev

“Aliyev’s trip to Stepanakert as part of the presidential campaign is not original. This is another provocation of a man who is a dictator who launched a military attack against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and forced the population to leave the country, fleeing genocide,” French MEP Nicolas Bay told Alpha News.

According to Bay, it is obvious that Azerbaijan presented this as a simple election campaign event.

“Everyone understands perfectly well that the Armenians were forced to leave, fleeing death, robbery, and rape. Azerbaijan has long acted in the same way as Turkey and has a clear desire to take control of the territory of Armenia and eradicate the Armenian people. Armenians need our solidarity, the solidarity of the international community, and, obviously, European Christians. We have a duty of solidarity towards the Armenians because it is Armenia, which is the first Christian country in the world and in which 3 million Armenians live, that faces Turkey with 100 million Muslims, which has hegemonic aspirations.

Azerbaijan behaves like a vassal of Turkey; well, they cannot fight. International protection is necessary, and what is intolerable for a member of the European Parliament is to see the European institutions, von der Leyen, wooing Aliyev, buying gas from him, and describing him as a’reliable economic partner’, as a political partner, while forgetting that he is a dictator, that he obeys the orders of Turkey, and that he behaves cruelly towards the Armenian people, with whom we have a very long connection.

It’s time to stop looking away from what is happening in Artsakh and in Armenia in general. We clearly see that Aliyev wants to proceed; he simply annexed Artsakh and forced the Armenians to leave, and this is not enough for him. He wants to continue. He will continue the fight against Armenia, and therefore it is now urgent to stop being naive and cowardly towards Azerbaijan. The time has come to introduce international and economic sanctions, to stop all economic and trade relations with Azerbaijan,” the MEP said.

“What European institutions demonstrate is incredible hypocrisy. The European Parliament passed a resolution in Strasbourg condemning Azerbaijan and the aggression against Artsakh, while the European Commission is building political and economic trade relations with Azerbaijan. Politics is not just words; it is also actions, and those in charge, starting with Ms. von der Leyen, must match words with actions. However, today everything is the other way around, with a mixture of cowardice and naivety. European institutions protect small trade interests at the expense of Armenians. This is very regrettable. The EU always behaves like this and spends its time lecturing the whole world, although it is far from flawless itself. Today, heads of state and government, starting with France, have not done enough to condemn Azerbaijan’s position so that it affects political, economic, and diplomatic relations with the country. Armenia is not being helped to effectively defend itself militarily,” he emphasized.