European Parliament not to monitor Azerbaijan presidential election
By Aynur Jafarova
Azerbaijan has achieved important success in its post-independence history. Earlier this week the European Parliament announced that Azerbaijan is no longer included in the list of countries where an observation mission is needed at elections, Head of the Azerbaijani delegation to Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Elkhan Suleymanov said.
According to Suleymanov, this is an important milestone before the presidential elections, which will be held in Azerbaijan in October 2013.
"Since the day of its inception the European Union has been an international organization considered to be at the peak of democratic development. The European Parliament as a body elected democratically by 27 countries (now 28) has done a lot for monitoring the state of democracy in the world jointly with the European Commission. Over the last 10 years, they have conducted over 100 election observation missions in the countries considered as 'problematic' from the viewpoint of the European Union," Suleymanov noted.
He said further that the European Parliament, in accordance with the agreement on cooperation with Azerbaijan, has sent three election observation missions to the country -- in 2005, 2008 and 2010 -- to evaluate the situation on the ground. Having evaluated the positive changes, its representatives prepared positive reports.
"Azerbaijan, a young democracy, cooperates with the European Parliament in most areas and currently holds negotiations on Association Agreement. This agreement will give an impetus to the development of trade and cultural relations as well as allow Europe to provide much more support to education, transport and other fields. Most members of the European Parliament support Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia," Suleymanov said. He said this should be seen in a report of the European Parliament which says that conclusion of Association Agreement would be possible after a withdrawal of troops by Armenia.
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that had caused a lengthy war in the early 1990s.
Suleymanov pointed out that in 2013 the European Parliament sent a mission to Armenia and intends to send one more to Georgia.
"Thus, Azerbaijan becomes the first country in the South Caucasus meeting democratic standards...I hope that in the future Azerbaijan will build close ties with Europe and both sides will develop cultural and economic relations. So, a much more stable society will be created in all regions worldwide," Suleymanov said.