Farida Panahova, chair of the “British Azerbaijani Community” addressed an appeal to Secretary of State for the Home Department Priti Patel, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Liz Truss and the members of the British Parliament- Graham Stuart, Dominic Rennie Raab, Bob John Blackman, Jonathan Evans, and the European Parliament. The appeal stresses that Republic of Azerbaijan is a tolerant, secular state which totally opposes religious extremism of all sorts and this attack is a serious violation of international law and the relevant provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention.
“The Azerbaijani Community in the UK is in deep shock and resentful of this attack, which occurred at the heart of Kensington, where many Londoners and tourists from around the world spend enjoyable time with their friends and families. Such an act of barbarism is an attack on our UK society, its values and the entire civil world, which we resolutely condemn. The timing of this attack is not accidental – we firmly believe that this action was specifically designed to detrimentally harm UK–Azerbaijani bilateral relations in their 30th anniversary year. This attack coincides with Azerbaijan further developing its relations with Europe in the oil and gas sector to provide supplies to South East Europe; and as peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, under EU auspices, reach a pivotal stage. The inactivity of the British Police for the first hours of the referred violent actions, silently observing how the radicals capture the Azerbaijani Embassy clearly indicates a failure of the UK intelligence services and law enforcement agencies to take the threat seriously. It is imperative that the “Mahdi Servants’ Union” is recognized as a terrorist organization and its members summarily deported and eliminated from the UK. It is a must that any individual living in the UK shares our common values of tolerance and respect of Human Rights, and people supporting and promoting a radical ideology should not live amongst us. There are no doubts, if remain unpunished these radical groups will soon target our homes, schools and other official authorities. We, members of the British Azerbaijani Community, respectfully request that necessary legal steps be taken to bring to a responsibility those committed these crimes against the Azerbaijani Embassy and ensure that such obligations are met in the future” – stresses the appeal.
It should be noted that Coordinating Council of Azerbaijanis living in the UK, immediately after the incident, sent a corresponding letter to British Home Affairs Minister Priti Patel.
