Armenian MP at PACE: 'I am for human rights, but I am against double standards'
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held another urgent debate on the issue of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Thursday.
Addressing the PACE, a member of the Armenian delegation, MP Naira Zohrabyan from the Prosperous Armenia Party, stated that in recent years the Council of Europe has turned into an “anti-Russian club”, where attempts are made to regularly organize démarches against Russia with false agendas.
Zohrabyan noted that by making anti-Russianism a priority of the Council of Europe, the organization undermines its fundamental values.
“In recent years, the Council of Europe seems to have turned into an anti-Russian club, which contradicts the fundamental values of our organization focusing on exclusively human rights and ruling out politics.
“Do not try to settle a score with countries with which you have political and geopolitical differences with false agendas. That's simply not fair!” the MP said.
She again called attention to the issue of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) and other captives being held in Azerbaijan, highlighting that Azerbaijan refuses to provide the European Court of Human Rights with clear information on them.
“Can you imagine what inhuman tortures the captured Armenian soldiers and civilians have been and continue to be subjected to? Why do you remain silent or does this topic not fit into your anti-Russian agenda?” she said.
Zohrabyan also called attention to Azerbaijan’s consistent efforts to destroy the historical and cultural monuments in the occupied territories of Artsakh.
“You know, when a special plane was sent to transport Navalny to Germany, the Armenians of Artsakh, injured by white phosphorus – the heaviest chemical weapon used by Azerbaijan in the recent Artsakh war, confidently thought that political interests are often more important than thousands of distorted destinies and human tragedies.
“I do not want to come to terms with Europe, which has turned into a political club, where they settle a score with countries that refuse to play by its rules, like Russia.
"I am for human rights, but I am against double standards,” she said.