Concluding his speech before members of PACE, the head of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for half an hour answered questions, most of which were unpleasant for him.
Thus, MEPs asked about dozens of political prisoners, the arrest of activists and violation of freedom of assembly, of the arrest of a dozen journalists and violations of freedom of speech. On this Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has no journalists arrested for their professional activities. "We have since 2003 no journalists arrested for defamation, you have incorrect information," claimed Aliyev.
The question of fraud in the last presidential election generally angered Aliyev. Threatening the British MP who asked this question with a finger, Aliyev accused him of lying. "In your question you lied twice. First, all the observers confirmed that the elections were free and fair. Most importantly, the elections reflected the will of the people, while there are violations and falsifications in your own country," said Aliyev, turning red.
On the question of the cause of persecution of the known human rights activist Leyla Yunus, Aliyev said that "she wanted to run away when she was requested relevant information, and then an appropriate action was applied against her," he said.
Asked about the suppression of civil society and political opponents, Aliyev said that those asking these questions do not know history. This was the situation in Azerbaijan in 1992-93. After that there was a period of stability, which is still ongoing. "These young people sitting at the top do not remember this," he said, pointing to a group of political refugees protesting against Aliyev's speech.
It is noteworthy that Aliyev was able to fend off the questions from MEPs with ease. He was right, noting that the deputies not know the history of the issue. Their questions were general in nature, not evidence-based, allowing Aliyev to juggle counterarguments in his favor. -02B-
Politics
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Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
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He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
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On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
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On August 30, at approximately 22:55, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in Metsamor was disconnected from the country's power grid, as reported by the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The shutdown was caused by a lightning strike, which triggered the plant's safety systems to switch the station to a safe shutdown mode. Currently, the plant's staff is working on restarting the facility.
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