EuFoA: Azerbaijan established regime based on fear and lies

PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Friends of Armenia EuFoA as well as a number of European politicians strongly condemned the downing of the Artsakh military helicopter by Azerbaijani armed forces.

“We condemn the new outbreak of violation. We state that as always, it is the Azerbaijani authorities that are responsible for it again. This provocation nullifies Azerbaijan’s commitments. We hoped Baku would adopt a more rational and constructive behavior after Armenia-Azerbaijan meeting on October 27 in Paris. Breaking the promise to France only a few days ago, the Azerbaijani leadership showed that it’s not a reliable partner in the region,” said François Rochebloine, French MP and Member of EuFoA’s Europe-Armenia Advisory Council.

“It is clear to all international organizations that the Azerbaijani administration established a totalitarian regime based on fear, lies and repression. Therefore, it also tries to neutralize any attempt of freedom and rule of law in the region, attempting in vain to threaten also the population of Nagorno Karabakh and their strong commitment to democracy and fundamental rights by shooting down unarmed helicopters, or murdering civilians as it was the case a few weeks ago. Last but not least I would like to pass my deepest condolences to the families of the helicopter crew,” added EuFoA Director Eduardo Lorenzo Ochoa.

“Shooting down the military helicopter in Nagorno Karabakh is a very dangerous and unprecedented escalation of the conflict in the region,” said MEP Jaromir Stetina of the EPP Group and Vice-Chairman of the Sub-committee on Security and Defense of the European Parliament.

MEP Frank Engel, President of the EP’s Nagorno Karabakh Group added: “The downing of an unarmed helicopter of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense forces by Azerbaijan on November 12 constitutes the most grievous violation of the ceasefire in 20 years. It is not only the single most senseless act of Azerbaijan: it is yet another element which must lead any objective observer to believe that commitments to non-use of force by Azerbaijan on Nagorno Karabakh are worthless. Rewarding the attacking officer by a medal for outstanding military service reminds us all of how "returning" criminal and murderer Ramil Safarov was elevated to national hero by the Azeri dictatorship. On October 27, the leadership of Azerbaijan pledged again that the country would refrain from any violence and use of force in the process of a viable settlement for Nagorno Karabakh. Two weeks later, Azerbaijan has shown what such pledges are worth. I condemn this latest act of aggression by Azerbaijan in the most forceful terms.”