Azerbaijan assumes chairmanship at CoE Committee of Ministers
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijan vowed to spare no efforts in furthering the objectives that the Council of Europe has been pursuing since its inception in the next six months of chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.
"To this end, we have taken full account of the challenges encountered by the Member States and current political agenda of the Organization while identifying our chairmanship priorities," Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov Mammadyarov said while speaking about the country's priorities.
Azerbaijan took over the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers at the council's 124th session, which took place in Vienna on May 5-6.
Austria's Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers Sebastian Kurz, who chaired the session, announced that the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers passed to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Mammadyarov.
Azerbaijan will officially start to chair the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on May 14.
Addressing the session, Mammadyarov pointed to the ongoing occupation of Azerbaijan's territories by Armenia, saying, "As a country which suffers from Armenia's ongoing aggression in the form of the occupation and notorious ethnic cleansing in Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territories, we are of the strong and firm position that any visits by the representatives of the Council of Europe and its monitoring mechanisms of the conflict zones should be carried out only by the explicit agreement of the government concerned."
He added that otherwise, these visits will violate the norms of international law and can be assessed as illegal.
Mammadyarov went on to add that the Secretary General's report on the "State of human rights, rule of law and democracy in Europe" contains a general assessment of the current situation - an approach that Azerbaijan supports - and offers possible means for rectifying shortcomings.
Secretary General of the European Council Thorbjorn Jagland made a report on the state of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Europe.
"Nevertheless, I find myself obliged to underline one important issue which we considered to be watched very carefully: the report suggests the necessity of engaging the Council's monitoring mechanisms in unresolved conflict zones through visits to those territories, with subsequent reporting procedures. We understand the importance of ensuring the full application of human rights standards throughout Europe and the necessity of protecting the population in conflict zones. However, this provision can be easily misused and manipulated in defiance of the territorial integrity of the member states concerned," Mammadyarov said.
He noted that Azerbaijan should therefore be extremely cautious in dealing with such delicate issues that can complicate the difficult settlement process further.
Mammadyarov further said by successfully implementing a wide range of consistent democratic reforms, Azerbaijan has fulfilled the commitments and obligations undertaken in the process of accession to the Council of Europe.
"We are certain that the recently adopted "Council of Europe-Azerbaijan Action Plan for 2014-2016" which will be launched very soon during the Secretary General's visit to Baku, will be another important tool for successful cooperation between the Council and Azerbaijan in the years to come," Mammadyarov stressed.
The session featured discussions on the current situation in Ukraine, the policy of the Council of Europe towards neighboring regions, ways of securing the long-term effectiveness of the system of the European Convention on Human Rights, and cooperation with the EU.
Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the Committee of Minister will end in November when it's handed over to Belgium.