President Aliyev: Azerbaijan has strong political will to fight corruption
By Aynur Jafarova
Azerbaijan has a strong political will to fight corruption, President Ilham Aliyev said in his message to the participants of an international conference titled "Fighting corruption: international standards and national experience" held in Baku on June 30.
The message said a democratic and fair state has been established in Azerbaijan as a result of appropriate political, legal and social policies.
"A system of transparent public relations has been created in
the country," the president's message said. "Ensuring efficiency in
public administration, establishing open government institutions,
developing e-services, and fighting against corruption are the main
directions of the state policy."
The president also said that the legislative framework of the
country was fully modernized and several institutional reforms were
implemented after Azerbaijan joined the international initiatives
in the fight against corruption.
President Aliyev regretted that corruption remains one of the
most pressing problems in the world, including in the European
countries.
"New initiatives must be constantly made in this area," the
president said. "The relations between the Council of Europe member
states and Azerbaijan are being constantly developed and expanded
in various fields. Azerbaijan has been the chairman of the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe since May 14. Our
country has declared the fight against corruption as a priority
during its presidency. It also intends to thoroughly deal with the
problems, which the member states are facing."
In his remarks, Head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration
Ramiz Mehdiyev said ASAN Service is a unique organization.
"The guests visiting Azerbaijan get acquainted with the work of
ASAN Service. Just like citizens of Azerbaijan, they stress with
great satisfaction that a very strong system has been established
in the country," he said.
Mehdiyev went on to say that Azerbaijan, like many other countries
has gained great experiences in the fight against corruption. The
country has established such important organizations as ASAN
Service and the Main Department for Fighting Corruption under the
Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan.
Speaking at the event, Head of the Presidential Administration
Department for Work with Law-Enforcement Bodies Fuad Alasgarov said
Azerbaijan has all opportunities for effectively fighting
corruption.
He added the fight against corruption is a priority in the state
policy in Azerbaijan.
"The fight against corruption in independent Azerbaijan has passed
through some difficulties and stages," Alasgarov stressed. "After
the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Azerbaijan had no legal
framework for fighting corruption. The country that had suffered
economic crisis was subjected to Armenia's military aggression in
that period. Some 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory was
occupied."
He also noted, Azerbaijan successfully cooperates with international organizations in fighting corruption.
The conference was organized as part of Azerbaijan's chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe represented by the country's government, the Group of States against corruption (GRECO) and the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA).
Fighting corruption is one of the main trends in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has already joined the UN Convention against Corruption, the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption of the Council of Europe, the Civil Law Convention on Corruption of the Council of Europe as well as the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.