Azerbaijan considers arrests of journalists and civil society activists its internal affair

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called as "biased and unfair" the European Union's statements made at the Council of Europe about human rights violations in the country.

Baku considered it "interference in Azerbaijan's internal affairs".

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh in his commentary called on the EU to pay attention to , "human rights violations in EU countries instead of making baseless statements against Azerbaijan".

"The EU has not yet investigated the killings of protesters at the "yellow waistcoats" rally in France, tortures against the local population in its overseas territories as a result of the neo-colonial policy of Paris, the spread of bribery and corruption in EU structures, facts of Islamophobia and attacks on Muslims," Hajizadeh wrote.

The representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expressed concern about the "EU's inaction" due to violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms in Armenia, deaths in prisons as a result of political persecution, as well as persecution of politicians and their family members, without specifying whom exactly he meant."

The smear campaign against Azerbaijan ahead of the COP29 event is a clear indicator of bias against the country, Hajizadeh believes.

"All human rights are protected in Azerbaijan, including those of persons held in places of detention. Significant progress has been made in this regard to bring it in line with international standards, and the European Union's claims in this regard are completely groundless," Hajizadeh emphasized.