In these days we observe increased provocations against Azerbaijan from various directions, but orchestrated from one pro-Armenian center . Chris Smith, chairman of the United States Helsinki Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe that is established for cooperation with OSCE proposed the bill titled “Azerbaijan Democracy Act of 2015” to the US Congress and this act provides for the certain types of sanctions against Azerbaijan. First, we should mention that although this institution is not a part of the institutional structure of the Congress, there are state representatives and congressional representatives among its members. We should remind you that the proposed bill provides denial of U.S. visas to senior members of the Azerbaijani government and a range of economic sanctions.
According to the opinion of the Analytical Group of the Legal Analysis and Researches Public Union, initiation of such bill is not occasional. Congressmen Chris Smith is known for his lobbying activity. Particularly, during his activity, he several times raised the issues before the Congress and strives for recognition of “Armenian Genocide”, adoption of criminal responsibility for denial of the “Armenian Genocide” and other such decisions. We can say it for sure that this initiative serves the interests of the Armenian Diaspora. It is most likely even if the Congress will not adopt this bill in the future, anyway, it aimed to affect the Azerbaijani party as a tool for pressure at the meeting to be hold between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
In general, it is not the only mean for the pressure. As you know, recently, announcement by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Jagland about launching an inquire into Azerbaijan’s implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights absolutely coincided with the initiative of the Helsinki Commission. Of course, this is not an incident. In the end of year, the whole Europe started preparations to the Christmas and in the time when majority are in the holiday mood, sudden decision of Jagland does not seem conclusive. If we take into account that the meeting of the presidents was expected to be held few days after the decision taken, it wouldn’t be difficult to understand why this process is happening now.
Besides, recently, meeting of one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, James Warlick with representatives of the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh during their visit to the US, his unambiguous thoughts expressed in twitter cannot be accepted as incidental.
Other news were that again, early in this week, decision made by the European Court Human Rights regarding 14 complaints related to the Parliamentary elections held in Azerbaijan, against the Government of Azerbaijan tells us a lot.
As a result, according to the opinion of the Analytical Group of the Legal Analysis and Researches Public Union, the facts and events listed above are the components of the general pressure campaign held against the Government of Azerbaijan and are supported by certain pro-Armenian circles. This process is held with the purpose to damage the relations between the US, European countries and Azerbaijan, at the same time, to put pressure on Azerbaijan in the negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh and is clearly of provocative character.
The Analytical Group of the Legal Analysis and Researches Public Union