by
Marin Banks
The ESISC says that for several years, a network of non-governmental organisations and its connections within the Council of Europe has led a "merciless propaganda campaign" against Azerbaijan to benefit Armenia.
The lengthy document was co-authored by Claude Moniquet, a respected former French journalist and intelligence agent. Moniquet, the co-founder and director of ESISC, told this website, "While no one assumes that Azerbaijan is a perfect and ideal state, it is clear that these unilateral and untruthful attacks are the tool of a hidden political agenda: to defend Armenia's illegal occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and to place the control of all Council of Europe activities in central and Eastern Europe in the hands of a small clique that, despite appearances, hides its private interests behind the purview of the "defence of human rights."
He added, "In essence, the creation of a partnership between various MPs belonging to one or multiple parliamentary groups could be a good thing. "It is important and interesting for movements to assemble to defend principles, the advancement of democracy or the development of good governance, crossing the rifts of political divide."
The report, seen by this website, said, "The emergence of convergences around common ideals within the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly is an undeniable sign of the vitality of debates held there. "Similarly, it is normal and healthy for civil society, represented by NGOs, to participate in political debates and to associate with MPs from time to time.
"Regardless, the facts that we have denounced are far from any desire to defend great and noble ideals."It goes on, "Since 2012, we have witnessed the creation of a shady network within the Council of Europe that endlessly conspires against the Republic of Azerbaijan. "The network's tactic has been to multiply defamatory attacks and slander, risking (or willing) to destabilise Azerbaijan with the end goal of dissimulating the illegal occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region by the Republic of Armenia."
The ESISC report is available via www.esisc.org
By: N. Peter Kramer
