Federal Lezghi
National and Cultural Autonomy

FLNCA Representatives Tell Brussels:

"Don’t Trade European Values For Oil And Gas"

Three
 representatives 
of 
Federal 
Lezghin 
National
 and 
Cultural 
Autonomy 
(FLNCA) 
have 
raised
 the
 issues
 facing
 the Lezghin 
community 
in
 five 
full 
days 
of 
meetings
 in 
Brussels 
between 
22 
and 
26 
April 
2013.

FLNCA
 President 
Arif Kerimov,
 Vice‐President 
Ruslan Kurbanov
 and
 Head
 of
 the
 International
 Department
 Tatyana Chubrikova
 engaged
 in
 constructive
 discussions
 with
 Members
 of
 the
 European
 Parliament,
 European
 officials, political 
advisers, 
academics 
and 
representatives 
of 
NGOs 
in 
meetings 
held 
across 
Brussels.

During their first visit to Brussels, Mr Kerimov familiarised
 the
 meeting
 participants
 with
 the
 background
 of
 the Lezghin
 people
 and
 their
 history
 before
 outlining
 the
 problems
 that
 the
 community
 currently
 faces
 in
 Azerbaijan. These
 issues
 include
 human
 rights
 violations,
 the
 jailing
 of
 political
 prisoners,
 expropriation
 of
 land
 and
 property, cultural 
assimilation 
and 
the 
lack 
of 
Lezghin 
schools, 
radio
stations, 
newspapers
 and 
cultural
 institutions.

The 
FLNCA, and
 indeed a
 number 
of 
meeting participants, 
noted
 that 
the 
European
 Union
 was
 often
 willing 
to
 ignore 
the 
blatant human
 rights 
abuses 
and 
undemocratic
 nature 
of 
the
 Aliyev
 regime, 
which 
has
ruled 
Azerbaijan 
for
 decades,
 because of 
the
 country’s
 wealth
 in
 natural
 resources. Mr Kerimov
 urged
 the
 European
 institutions
 not
 to
 trade
 European values 
of
democracy,
 tolerance 
and 
respect 
for 
human
 rights
 for 
oil 
and 
gas.

A
 clear
 outcome
 from
 the
 meetings
 was
 the
 need
 to
 provide
 the
 European
 institutions
 and
 NGOs
 with
 detailed information
 and 
case
 studies 
from
 Azerbaijan regarding 
the 
regular
 human
 rights 
violations 
perpetrated 
against 
the Lezghin 
and 
other 
minorities, 
including
 Talysh, 
Avars
 and 
Tats.
 The
 Azeri
 government’s 
tight
control
 over 
the
 media
 is often 
preventing
 important 
stories
 of 
repression 
from 
reaching
 European
 ears.

The
 FLNCA 
delegation 
headed
 for
 Geneva
on
 Saturday,
 27
 April 
2013, 
to
participate
in
 the
 United
 Nations 
Universal Periodic 
Review
 (UPR) 
on 
the 
human 
rights 
situation 
in 
Azerbaijan 
in 
order 
to 
raise 
the 
issue 
of 
the
 suppression 
of 
the Lezghin
 people.

.

.