The Republic of Azerbaijan refused to participate in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Today, the Azerbaijani delegation made a corresponding statement at the PACE meeting before leaving.

Azerbaijan will no longer participate in the work of PACE, the Azerbaijani delegation reported at the today’s PACE meeting.

“The Republic of Azerbaijan is a proud, independent, sovereign, democratic and multicultural country. Democracy is our conscious choice. Since independence in 1991, we have made enormous progress in ensuring human rights and the rule of law in Azerbaijan,”

– Baku said.

The statement indicates the main goal of PACE is to create a platform on which parliamentarians from different countries can conduct dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and on equal terms.

“Having joined the Council of Europe in 2001, Azerbaijan sincerely hoped and expected that this organization, designed to protect human rights and the rule of law, would help Azerbaijan to restore the rights of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis violated as a result of military aggression and occupation by Armenia of part of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territories. And, therefore, justice will be restored in order to achieve lasting peace in the region,”

- the statement reads.

The statement notes that for almost 20 years, when the Azerbaijani delegation spoke about the dire consequences of the Armenian occupation, they were told that the PACE format was not suitable for discussing the topic of conflicts.

Baku expressed regret over the use of PACE as a platform to attack some member countries.

The delegation stated that the initiative to challenge the authority of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE is part of this vicious campaign.

After the statement was made, the delegation left the meeting room.