Hikmat Hajiyev responds to unfounded accusations of European commissioner

Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to President of Azerbaijan - Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, has responded to the unfounded accusations by European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit and absurd calls he made on Tuesday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Report informs.

"Some of the discussions at the European Parliament reminds us of a theater of the absurd or a circus," Hajiyev said in a statement to POLITICO.

"The world has seen the shameful practice of corruption at this institution. Many of those loud speakers against my country are on the payroll of the Armenian lobby and the Armenian government's PR and lobbying campaign" the Azerbaijani presidential aide said.

"I would also advise the EU human rights commissioner to deal seriously with growing human rights problems in the European Union instead of preaching [to] others," added Hajiyev. "Calls for releasing Armenian war criminals who killed innocent Azerbaijani civilians are equal to releasing Nazi war criminals."