Azerbaijan threatens to 'revise' relations with European Union
Azerbaijan has threatened to “revise” its relations with the EU after the European Parliament passed a resolution that called for the imposition of sanctions against Azeri authorities over alleged rights violations in the country.
"Azerbaijan's relations with the European Union should be revised due to its anti-Azeri and anti-Islamic tendencies," Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Friday.
On Thursday, the European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution strongly condemning the "unprecedented repression against civil society in Azerbaijan."
The resolution calls on Azerbaijan’s authorities to “take the necessary measures to ensure full independence of judiciary and guarantee due process and impartiality of the courts.”
The European Commission has been urged to "consider targeted sanctions and visa bans on all (Azeri) politicians, officials and judges involved in the political persecutions," according to the resolution.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and members of his family are also targeted in the resolution, which has demanded that the EU "conduct a thorough investigation into the corruption allegations” against the head of the Azeri state.
In retaliation, Baku has postponed a visit by a European Commission delegation to the country, which was due to take place this month for a planned EU-Azerbaijan "strategic partnership" accord.
The government in Azerbaijan has been accused by rights groups of stepping up pressure on opponents after the reelection of President Aliyev for a third term in 2013.
Last week, anti-corruption campaigner and award-winning investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail on bribery charges she denounced as trumped-up by the government.
Ismayilova was behind a probe into the alleged vast riches amassed by President Aliyev and his inner circle, who have ruled Azerbaijan since it gained independence from the Soviet Union back in 1993.
The president of Azerbaijan has repeatedly denied accusations of rights abuses and dismissed criticism against his rule as a smear campaign by foreign forces.
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