The hot debates on Azerbaijan’s fulfillment of obligations to the Council of Europe were not much different from the previous ones. Rapporteurs Herkel and Gross again said Baku neglects its commitments to the CoE. They also pointed out to the unwillingness of the authorities to conduct democratic elections and secure rights and freedoms of the citizens.
Gross said the authorities try to justify the problems available by the presence of refugees and consequences of war. They think that if they have oil they can neglect the laws and the opinion of the international community. This was the reason for the falsified parliamentary election in 2005 and similar election in May 2006.
During the debates some parliamentarians from Eastern Europe and Turkey supported Azerbaijan and offered to recognize the Azeri delegation mandate.
As for the speeches of the Azeri delegation members, they were remarkable with emotionality and absence of arguments. The speeches assured that the Council of Europe should understand that Azerbaijan is a young state and he should be assisted but not criticized. With majority of votes the resolution and recommendations submitted by Gross and Herkel were adopted. The rapporteurs said Azerbaijan experiences serious problems with democracy and fundamental freedoms such as elections, freedom of speech and other fields. In spring 2007 the PACE will again revert to the commitments to be fulfilled by Azerbaijan. Till that time the PACE will proceed with the monitoring of all the spheres of life, reported Turan.
