It's time to solve the problems of society

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- The European Parliament adopted a resolution on January 17 entitled "The situation in Azerbaijan and the case of Mehman Huseynov". How can this kind of resolution affect Azerbaijan? Is there a legal basis for them?

-First of all, this resolution has become a document reflecting a political position - a document reflecting the opinion of most of the European Parliament. From this point of view, of course, this will influence Azerbaijan. From a legal point of view, the resolution of the European Parliament is not binding for Azerbaijan. However, the European Parliament, which is the legislative body of the European Union, expresses the opinion of the deputies who received the mandates of local citizens regarding human rights in Azerbaijan, especially political prisoners. It is quite possible that at first glance it will look as if the authorities of Azerbaijan do not attach any importance to this. However, you can be sure that behind closed doors, especially in the context of current negotiations with the EU, this political position should be taken into consideration. Because in July last year, a resolution was adopted by the majority of the European Parliament (more than 500 votes), which noted that the EP will not ratify the agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU planned for signing, unless the situation with human rights in Azerbaijan is improved, and political prisoners are not will be released. A non-ratified agreement cannot actually enter into force, which means it will have neither political, nor legal, nor any other force. From this point of view, the resolution of the European Parliament has a rather serious influence, if one considers that the executive structures of both the Azerbaijani side and the EU want the agreement to be signed. At the same time, we, members of civil society and representatives of NGOs, also wish to sign this agreement, which should also include human rights issues.

- How do such resolutions affect the international image of Azerbaijan?

- As it has been noted, this document does not create any obligations or coercion, but in the matter of international image, of course, it causes damage. Currently, the international image of Azerbaijan due to the actions of the current government is in a very poor condition. These all are serious questions because of this kind of resolutions, because of numerous corruption scandals, especially "caviar diplomacy," because of the actions in the United States and other countries, which want to attract to their side some individuals, and because of the political speculation and speculation of authority. Unfortunately, such issues contradict national interests and are negative elements for the country's image.

- Azerbaijan and the EU are going to sign an agreement in a few months. Now, in view of the adoption by the European Parliament of this resolution, many say that such measures have been taken deliberately in order to prevent the signing an agreement, as if someone is not interested in signing this document. Is this opinion true?

-I think it is absurd. The resolution appeared because of the new charges against Mehman Huseynov, who is in custody. How can this be explained? After all, the EU did not prosecute this accusation, and the European Parliament or any other international organization did not arrest political prisoners in Azerbaijan? The European Parliament consists of 751 deputies from 28 countries. By the way, the authorities of Azerbaijan always say that at least 10 EU countries have strategic cooperation. Most EU countries are parliamentary republics. In these countries in power come from parliaments. These people came to power by parliamentary vote, or are on high positions. How did it happen that out of 751 deputies, including these 10 countries, 533 voted for the adoption of the resolution? In the European Parliament, there are five the largest factions, which clearly voted for the adoption of the resolution. What forces can we talk about in this case?

If 533 deputies of the European Parliament serve any forces, it seems unconvincing. A rationally thinking person will not believe this, because it is impossible. On the other hand, according to the Azerbaijani authorities, deputies of strategic partnership countries voted for the adoption of the resolution. Where did that collaboration go? There are many questions here; we need to look at other points of the resolution adopted by the European Parliament last July. They all state that the European Parliament attaches importance to relations with Azerbaijan and highly values ​​this country as a partner. Based on this, there is a need to prepare an agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU that would cover all directions and values ​​of the EU. This is reflected in the resolution of the European Parliament. The question is that among the values ​​protected by the European Parliament there are also issues of human rights, development of democracy and civil society. The Azerbaijani side creates the impression that someone in the European Parliament does not want to sign this agreement. This is absurd thought.

- What steps should be taken to improve the situation in Azerbaijan, as well as relations with the EU and the European Parliament?

-A set of measures should be taken for this. It is not just about political prisoners. There is a resolution adopted in July, the current resolutions of the European Parliament, resolution adopted by the PACE in 2017 in connection with Azerbaijan, documents of the OSCE, UN and other organizations, which Azerbaijan joined, and the international NGOs state. All these documents state that it is necessary to take into account the opinions of local organizations of Azerbaijan, human rights activists, civil society activists, and opposition parties.

In addition, this is based on the need for comprehensive reforms. The talk is about the release of ten, hundreds of political prisoners. Just in the first place, this question is because their freedom, the lives of their loved ones directly affect the lives of people. Therefore, there is so much talk about this issue. Let us pay attention to other parties who are not happy either and this is freedom of assembly, association, the position of civil society and NGOs, social and economic rights, property rights, pensions, labor rights. There are problems in various directions that affect the lives of people. Their resolution requires political will, because the resources are in the hands of power. The authorities of Azerbaijan know this problem better. I really hope that the authorities understand that it is the time to solve them. Otherwise, both the Azerbaijani state and people will feel the harm from all this and the experience of the distant past is a confirmation of this.