Azerbaijan threatens to exit Council of Europe and ECHR
- 2 February, 01:32
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that his country may consider its involvement with the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Aliyev’s comments came after Azerbaijan exited the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) following the organization’s refusal to extend the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation.
Receiving Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin Chungong on February 1, Aliyev called PACE’s move as “anti-Azerbaijani”, emphasizing that it was initiated by a group "which does not serve dialogue and is overall in opposition to the traditions of a parliamentary platform." Aliyev noted that in general, PACE’s decision “contradicts the traditions of the parliamentary platform.”
He warned that if the Azerbaijani delegation’s rights are not restored, “the issue of Azerbaijan’s participation in the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights will be reconsidered”.
This was the first time Aliyev was addressing his country’s ongoing diplomatic row with the PACE.
PACE voted out the Azerbaijani delegation on January 24, for the country’s “failure to fulfill major commitments" arising from its joining the Council of Europe back in 2001. In its resolution, PACE cited its concerns over Azerbaijan’s electoral process, human rights and legislative issues, the weakness of its legislature vis-à-vis the executive powers among the reasons for suspending its delegation’s credentials.
Aliyev’s threats to leave the two major European organizations come amid the deterioration of ties with Western countries, particularly with France. In late December, France expelled two Azerbaijani diplomats in reciprocal move after Baku declared two embassy employees persona non grata and expelled them "for actions incompatible with their diplomatic status and which contradicted the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."
