Azerbaijan’s parliament voted on Friday to cut ties with the European Parliament and begin suspending cooperation in all directions after lawmakers in Brussels adopted a resolution on Armenia that included clauses on Nagorno-Karabakh.
The move came a day after the European Parliament backed language calling for the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, including a safe return for those who fled in 2023, and for the release of Armenian prisoners held by Azerbaijan. Baku also summoned EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Marijana Kujundžić and handed her a note of protest, saying the provisions against Azerbaijan were unfounded and biased.
The European Parliament resolution reiterated support for the protection of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians’ identity, property and cultural heritage, and called for those responsible for destroying Armenian cultural and religious heritage to be held accountable. It also asked for an international assessment mission. Alongside that language, the resolution praised the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, normalization efforts with Turkey and growing Armenia-EU ties.
About 100,000 people fled Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan’s final offensive into the region in 2023, and the resolution’s call for their return struck directly at one of the most sensitive issues left after the fighting. Azerbaijan says 19 Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians are being held in the country, with some still on trial and others recently given lengthy prison sentences on war-crimes-related charges.
The Azerbaijani parliament said the European Parliament had turned itself into a body that rejects international law and justice, and accused it of ignoring what Baku calls Armenia’s 30-year occupation of its lands, the destruction of hundreds of cities and villages, and the rights of more than 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons. The dispute now moves into a wider freeze in parliamentary contacts, raising the diplomatic cost of a clash that has already spread beyond the chamber floor.