The Western Azerbaijan Community on Wednesday sharply condemned the biased position of Toivo Klaar, the special representative of the European Union for the South Caucasus, in his interview with the Armenian media, especially his detrimental views such as "deployment of a long-term multinational or UN mission" in the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, News.Az reports. 

“We demand T. Klaar and other European Union officials not to make ridiculous, hostile statements about the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan. Dispatching a mission to the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan is not within the authority of T. Klaar or others. The European Union, which embodies a clear example of double standards, has no moral ground to lecture Azerbaijan. T. Klaar should rather make recommendations to the institutions of the European Union on deploying long-term multinational or UN missions in the member states of the European Union where there are problems with ethnic minorities, and in Armenia which became mono-ethnic as a result of the brutal ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis,” the Community said in a statement.

“In his interview, T. Klaar emphasizes the importance of the return of Armenian residents to Karabakh and safeguarding their religious and cultural monuments and expresses his concern about the detention of the butchers of Khojaly, chooses not to mention the issue of the return of expelled Azerbaijanis to Armenia or the protection of the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people in Armenia. This position by the EU official is a hypocrisy. It should be noted that Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia have been waiting for their return to their homeland for more than 30 years. Despite our repeated appeals, the European Union has not publicly declared its position on this issue.

T. Klaar’s words that "The Nagorno-Karabakh issue is not closed for me" echoes the similar statement made by the butcher of #Khojaly, Serzhik Sargsyan. We bring to the attention of the European Union official that for Azerbaijan, which has restored its sovereignty, the Karabakh issue is closed. If this issue is still open for others, it is only a product of their fantasy,” the Community added.

The Western Azerbaijan Community emphasized that addressing issues through the lens of ethnic and religious bias, as well as Azerbaijanophobia, should be a source of shame for the European Union.

The Western Azerbaijan Community urged the European Union to end its discrimination, to respect the principle of equality of people in dignity and rights, and to support the safe and dignified return of Azerbaijanis forcibly expelled from Armenia within the framework of international mechanism and under appropriate security guarantees.

News.Az