YEREVAN, JUNE 22, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament of Armenia Naira Zohrabyan has again raised the issue of the Armenian prisoners of war illegally held in Azerbaijan during the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, calling on the CoE to take concrete actions, rather than to make statements which do not lead to any consequences.

The lawmaker called on the CoE to suspend the Azerbaijani delegation’s powers and freeze the European bank accounts of the family of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and that country’s political elite. She stated that the solution of the Armenian POW issue is possible only by imposing tough sanctions against Baku.

“Especially today when hatred and intolerance have become a serious issue in Europe and politicians have a great responsibility to keep away politics from populism, lie, manipulations and tools unacceptable in the fight against political opponents, our today’s discussion is more than relevant. Yes, the politician must have a mandate to freely exercise his right to speech, which, however, can’t avoid red lines. When the President of Azerbaijan is calling Armenians liars and says that for 30 years Artsakh has been in the hands of monsters, wild animals, when announces that he will expel Armenians from Artsakh like dogs, when the mannequins of Armenian servicemen are displayed at the Baku filthy park, I am more than convinced that racism ad Armenophobia cannot be considered as freedom of speech and must be prevented”, she said, adding that if the European organization doesn’t apply sanctions on Azerbaijan, there is a great fear that many Armenian mothers will no more hug their sons.

“I ask you again: why don’t you suspend the Azerbaijani delegation’s right to vote, why you don’t urge the international organizations to freeze the European bank accounts of Aliyev’s family and his clan. I have talked to the boys who have been repatriated two weeks ago. They saw hell in Baku prison. And I will urge daily to apply concrete sanctions on Azerbaijan, as this country could become the last graveyard of Europe and the European values”, the lawmaker said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan