Photo: @Speaker_Az Sahiba Gafarova, X
Christian Solidarity International (CSI- Germany) is expressing outrage over the visit of Sahiba Gafarova, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to the German parliament on November 30, 2023.
In a letter to Bärbel Bas, the president of the German parliament, CSI condemns the uncritical reception accorded to the Azerbaijani politician.
CSI says it is “incomprehensible and outrageous” that Germany would welcome Gafarova, a leading member of Azerbaijan’s ruling party, just two months after Azerbaijan drove 120,000 Christians out of Nagorno Karabakh. In doing so, Germany is showing support for Azerbaijan’s genocidal actions.
Posing with a photo of Nagorno Karabakh
In the letter, CSI refers to a photo showing Gafarova and Bas standing in front of the flags of the European Union and Germany.
The two top politicians are seen holding up an aerial photograph of Nagorno Karabakh, whose ancient Armenian population Azerbaijan expelled in a military attack on September 19.
The “shocking” photo has caused great damage not only in Germany but also in Armenia, and has called Germany’s foreign policy into question, CSI writes.
Hostages held by Baku
“Following the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh, the churches and other cultural assets in this millennia-old Armenian region are threatened with destruction by Azerbaijan,” reads the letter signed by Peter Fuchs, Managing Director of CSI Germany and John Eibner, International President of CSI.
Azerbaijan is repeatedly attacking areas in southern Armenia and is holding Armenians hostage in order to blackmail Yerevan into agreeing to a peace treaty, CSI maintains.
No free pass for Azerbaijan
“We call on you not only to distance yourself from Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh, but to condemn it,” CSI writes. Germany must not to give Azerbaijan a free pass for its aggression against the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian people.
