In an official letter addressed to the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, on the official letterhead of the European Parliament, Madame Metsola writes that Tural Ganjaliyev, a member of the Milli Majlis, said something unflattering about the European Parliament and its members on December 20. To the great indignation of the EP President, Tural Ganjaliyev said that a corruption mechanism had been established in the European Parliament and that the gold stolen in Karabakh was flowing into the pockets of the MEPs, who then demonize Azerbaijan. And then he retweeted an article accusing Marina Kaljurand, nee Rajevskaya, Chair of the EP Delegation for relations with the South Caucasus, of corruption.
Now Roberta Metsola comes out with an angry “Euro-complaint”, demanding, no less, that Sahiba Gafarova take appropriate action to make sure this does not happen again.
Roberta Metsola may not be aware of it, but Tural Ganjaliyev is an MP from the Khankendi constituency. He has focused his activities directly on defending the interests of the Karabakh Azerbaijani community, which has yet to regain a home in its native towns and villages from which it was treacherously uprooted 30 years ago. In keeping with his mission, vocation, and status within the political establishment, Ganjaliyev has demonstrated an uncompromising spirit of character in fighting those who seek to prevent Karabakh Azerbaijanis from finding not only homes, but also peace in their homeland.
Marina KALJURAND’s latest anti-Azerbaijani speech at the EP is the outward manifestation of her hidden and shady personal pro-Armenian agenda, which needs thorough investigation by the @Europarl_EN pic.twitter.com/Kq2Mek6SJQ
— Tural Ganjali (@TGanjaliyev) January 19, 2023
During out past meetings with @MarinaKaljurand in her capacity as the PCC Co-Chair, as🇦🇿delegation we have always noticed this MEP’s biased attitude towards🇦🇿. She has always behaved as if she is the paid lobbyist defending 🇦🇲interests at @Europarl_EN following suit of @EvaKaili pic.twitter.com/hL96sBP7MN
— Tural Ganjali (@TGanjaliyev) January 19, 2023
And now it turns out that MEPs can work off their sponsors’ money, but members of the Milli Majlis are not allowed to protect the interests of their constituents? What is MP Ganjaliyev to do, if a lush, imposing Estonian woman with a corruption trail has long been blocking Karabakh Azerbaijanis’ road home?
Marina Kaljurand is a familiar face in Yerevan and Baku, a former Estonian foreign minister who currently chairs the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the South Caucasus. But Marina is also a member of the “Armenia Friendship Group” and does not neglect the Karabakh issue. Judging by her numerous statements and articles in the Azerbaijani and world media, Kaljurand does not act out of moral and ethical convictions, but rather earns substantial remuneration regularly paid to her by individuals of controversial reputation: Vardan Sirmakes of “European Friends of Armenia” and the Belgian diamond king Kaspar Karampetian of the Armenian General Benevolent Union.
On the trail of Armenian money: Corruption scandal in European Parliament continues
Investigative journalists have found an odd cause-and-effect relationship between the Estonian’s speeches and the deposits on her debit card and European bank accounts. Just recently, Kaljurand sounded the alarm again, expressing concern over the protest of Azerbaijani environmental activists on the Lachin road. What did the new leader of the Karabakh Azerbaijani community do? Ganjaliyev rebuked the troublemaker Kaljurand on Twitter, urging to hold the MEP accountable and pointing to her shady pro-Armenian agenda. The Azerbaijani MP believes that the European Parliament needs to investigate the highly suspicious activities of the former Estonian foreign minister.
What is wrong with Ganjaliyev’s actions from the perspective of the right to freedom of expression regulated by the European Convention on Human Rights? The Azerbaijani activist exercised his fundamental right and expressed his position. He did not insult, slander or make false accusations… Ganjaliyev merely voiced his suspicions, drawing the attention of MEPs to Kaljurand’s strange, one-sided, biased activities. All within European norms and political decorum.
MEP defends Russian billionaire smuggling gold out of Karabakh
Besides, after the scandalous revelation of Vice President Eva Kaili’s corruption deal, Brussels urgently needs to tighten civil and political control over MEPs and their ties to countries from a potentially corrupt region. No such luck. Out of the blue, in an unprecedented and blatant manner, the Maltese President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola whips out an angry letter to Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament. Metsola demands the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament to take action against Ganjaliyev. After Eva Kaili’s scandal it is hardly appropriate for Roberta Metsola to throw a fit and argue that the words “European Parliament” and “corruption” cannot be in the same sentence. And Azerbaijan is well aware of the activity of the “Armenian lobby” in its corridors and in the stands: rest assured, we have had time to research the matter.
It is also strange that Azerbaijan should receive a message from the head of the European Parliament, an institution that has been criticizing Baku for decades for its lack of tolerance and respect for democratic freedoms. The European house is a mess. Eurasian countries have gradually become accustomed to revelations of corruption, as well as to manifestations of the neo-imperial spirit of France, the new Western reality. But do Europeans actually call for punishment for free thought and free expression as of late!? Or did the Maltese MP choose Tural Ganjaliyev as a casus belli against Azerbaijan?
Members of the European Parliament have repeatedly made openly Islamophobic and Turkophobic statements from its rostrum, organized rallies in its corridors in support of Armenia on the basis of “Christian solidarity”. They repeatedly disseminated the most ridiculous fabrications about Azerbaijan. And every time the leadership of the European Parliament shrugs: democracy, freedom of speech, people have the right to voice their opinions…
And now it turns out that European Islamophobes are entitled to this “freedom of speech”, but Azerbaijani MPs have no right to speak out against the European Parliament? MEPs have the right to say any sort of nonsense about Azerbaijan and Turkey and voice outright fakes, but Azerbaijani MPs are not allowed to criticize the European Parliament?
Lastly, what action exactly does Roberta Metsola demand from Sahiba Gafarova? A “parliamentary censorship”? A social media censorship? Strictly banning Tural Ganjaliyev from expressing his opinion? This is the European Parliament, whose lectures and moralizing about freedom of speech, democracy, European values and human rights have left our ears in blisters. What are we to make of Roberta Metsola’s epistolary tantrums? European values are only to be used to pick on Azerbaijan? But our citizens, including members of our parliament, are not supposed to use them? That is, according to the European Parliament, democracy is “only for whites” but not for “blacks”? Is this what the leaders of the European Parliament think “European values” should look like? Did Madame Roberta Metsola consult with anyone before she sent this to Baku? Was she aware at all to whom and what she was writing and what she was demanding? What about her team—didn’t they think about the response either? Did they think that Azerbaijan would not be able to put two and two together and would not ask whether their boss’s demands are in line with the basic principles of democracy, freedom of speech and even civilized conduct? Or was it that they did not dare warn the Madam President about the consequences of this Euro-complaint?
Apparently, corruption is not the only problem of the European Parliament.
