The RPA deputy chairman called on the Armenian side to demand the resignation of BSEC Secretary General Asaf Hajiyev for political bias

ArmInfo. Armen Ashotyan, Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), called on official Yerevan to demand the resignation of Asaf Hajiyev, Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), for political bias.

As Ashotyan noted, Hajiyev once again grossly violated his mandate as an international official. "By sending official congratulatory messages to the leadership of Azerbaijan on behalf of the BSEC leadership on the occasion of November 8 – the day of military aggression against Artsakh, and making overt political statements on behalf of the entire organization, he discredits the very principle of regional economic cooperation," the RPA Deputy Chairman wrote on his Facebook page, posting a corresponding screenshot. Ashotyan emphasized that the BSEC is an interparliamentary body designed to develop economic dialogue and good-neighborliness in the Black Sea region, and not to serve the propaganda interests of one country to the detriment of another founding member, Armenia. He called for an immediate response to this case, particularly from opposition MPs.

"This issue must be immediately raised at the official level in the BSEC permanent bodies and at the Assembly plenary session, demanding the resignation of BSEC Secretary General Asaf Hajiyev. The legal justifications are clear and are enshrined in the organization's founding documents: violation of the principle of impartiality of an international official, abuse of technical and executive powers, undermining the organization's goals and principles, and turning a regional economic platform into a mouthpiece for Azerbaijani propaganda. All of this represents another foreign policy defeat and another loss of Armenia's sovereignty," the RPA Deputy Chairman concluded.