Communication by Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers to the PACE

June 23, 2014

Distinguished President,

Secretary General,

Members of the Parliamentary Assembly,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to address this Assembly after my first encounter with some of you in Baku last month on the occasion of the meeting of the Standing Committee where we had a frank and open exchange of views on a number of issues ranging from Azerbaijan – Council of Europe cooperation to international and regional developments. I am looking forward to having another interesting debate with you on the matters of mutual interest and concern today.

I would like to inform you about the key priorities of the Azerbaijani chairmanship and what has been done since we assumed this honourable task last month, as well as about developments that have taken place in the Committee of Ministers since your last Session.

The key priorities of our chairmanship have been chosen in the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. They were identified taking into account some of the most pressing issues on the agenda of the Council of Europe as well as the contribution that Azerbaijan might make in the light of its specific experience and strengths.

Combating corruption will constitute our priority tasks. As a country having made considerable strides at the national level, we intend to contribute to the efforts of the Organisation in this area, notably by organising at the end of this month a high-level Conference in Baku in co-operation with the Group of States against Corruption – GRECO and the International Anti-Corruption Academy. The Conference will provide a unique opportunity to exchange views on national experiences and best practices on the implementation of anti-corruption laws and preventive measures.

The manipulation of sports competitions, including of football matches, constitutes an emerging challenge and a striking aspect of the corruption phenomenon. In this respect, I am very pleased that last month the Assembly gave its green light and provided comments on the current draft Convention on the manipulation of sport competitions through Opinion 287 (2014) adopted in the Baku meeting of the Standing Committee acting on behalf of the Assembly. The ball is now on the side of the Committee of Ministers, which is examining these texts in the light of the above-mentioned Opinion.

The Azerbaijani chairmanship will do its utmost to secure the adoption of the Convention as soon as possible. For us, which will host the first European Games in 2015, the adoption of the Convention during its chairmanship would constitute a source of great satisfaction, privilege and honor.

Furthermore, my Government will support this priority line by allocating financial support to the Council of Europe Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport - EPAS.

As a country with a centuries-long tradition of peaceful coexistence between different ethnic and religious communities, Azerbaijan has made the promotion of intercultural and interreligious dialogue one of its foreign policy priorities. In recent years, Azerbaijan was at the origin of numerous international initiatives and events such as the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue and Baku Humanitarian Forum. The recent establishment of the Baku International Multiculturalism Center is intended to further streamline my Government’s contribution to the international endevours in this field. Moreover we are planning to host the high-level event - the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations VII Global Forum in 2016.

Proceeding from that, during its chairmanship Azerbaijan will work towards the consolidation of culturally diverse societies based on mutual respect and understanding. In this regard, we are looking forward to hosting the 2014 Council of Europe annual exchange on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue, which will take place on 1-2 September in Baku. This meeting will provide an opportunity for debate involving leading religious and non-religious figures. It will focus on tolerance of religion and non-religious convictions in culturally diverse societies, their contribution to combating all forms of discrimination, intolerance and violence, as well as on the contribution of cultural heritage of a religious nature to intercultural dialogue.

I hope that representatives of Assembly will be able to attend and to play an active role in this important event.

Under this priority line of action, the Azerbaijani Chairmanship will host several other events relating to culture, including a Platform Exchange on Culture and Digitisation at the beginning of July, the 2014 Cultural Routes Advisory Forum and an event related to the Heritage Days, both due to be held in Baku during October, as well as the Youth Forum of the No Hate Speech Movement, to be held in Gabala in October.

Azerbaijan strongly believes that social cohesion is a fundamental precondition to the development and sustainability of stable, prosperous and diverse societies. Our chairmanship will therefore seek to complement the Council of Europe’s undertakings to ensure everyone’s access to social rights without discrimination. Vulnerable groups in particular should fully enjoy the rights provided for in the various Council of Europe instruments. Experiencing itself large-scale displacement due to foreign occupation, Azerbaijan will undoubtedly pay close attention to the protection of human rights of internally displaced persons, a vulnerable segment of the population, within relevant activities of the Chairmanship.

The enhanced access of young people to their social rights deserves to be paid higher attention as well. In this respect, my Government has decided to financially support the Enter 2 project aiming at the development of youth policy responses to exclusion, discrimination and violence affecting young people.

Women rights can not be neglected under any circumstances. In this context, the role that the national human rights institutions can play in ensuring women rights was extensively debated in the Conference of European Ombudspersons held just a few days ago in Baku.

Under our chairmanship priority dealing with social cohesion, we will organise in Baku next September a Conference to review the Council of Europe Social Cohesion Strategy and Action Plan.

Moreover, as a logical continuation of Azerbaijan’s efforts to further deepen its interaction with the Council of Europe in this particular field, we have expressed our intention to host the next Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Social Cohesion in Baku.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We will also focus our attention on youth and education by placing a particular emphasis on the need to nurturing a generation of educated and responsible youth. At the national level, the policy pursued by the Azerbaijani Government is strongly youth-oriented with special focus on their education. The share of public spending for education in GDP increases constantly and this is certainly being translated into the quality of education and its closer integration into the European education system. At the same time, the number of Azerbaijani state-funded students studying in leading foreign, mainly European universities will reach 5,000 by 2015.

The first event that we hosted in Baku under the Azerbaijani chairmanship was exactly the one dealing with the education, namely meeting of coordinators for the Council of Europe Charter of Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights held in May. The meeting was dedicated to the importance of making changes in the lives of children in vulnerable situations through citizenship and human rights education.

The promotion of well-educated youth was largely debated in another chairmanship event - the International Conference on "Local democracy and Youth" organized jointly with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe last week in Baku. During the discussions, special emphasis was placed on youth education, their active participation in decision making and implementation of those decisions at all levels of the governance. This gathering allowed for meaningful exchange of best practices of the member states in this area.

Next October, we will host two important events - the 4th regional ministerial meeting on the implementation of the European Higher Education Area and the UN Global Forum on Youth Policy.

Concluding my remarks on our chairmanship activities, I have to say how we are satisfied to see many of our priorities to be shared by the upcoming Belgium and Bosnia and Herzegovina Chairmanships of the Committee of Ministers. All the three countries committed themselves to strive together to foster co-operation and synergy between their respective activities in a number of fields related to the three key pillars of the Organisation, and with other international organisations such as the European Union and the OSCE.

Ladies and gentlemen,

At this stage of my presentation, I would like to refer to the 124th Session of the Committee of Ministers held in Vienna on May 6. I would like to express my gratitude to the Austrian outgoing chairmanship for its hospitality and to pay tribute for the perfect organisation of this important meeting. I should add that the Minutes of the Session can be accessed by anyone as, for the sake of transparency, the Committee of Ministers decided to declassify them.

In Vienna, the Ministers took a number of decisions in areas to which the Azerbaijani chairmanship attaches particular importance, such as the policy of the Council of Europe towards neighbouring states and regions. The Ministers expressed their determination to continue developing this policy on the basis of Council of Europe values. As a country located at the crossroads of two continents, which enjoys strong historical relations with Euro-Asian states, Azerbaijan intends to support the Organisation’s efforts in this field. To this end, we will organise a high-level Ministerial Conference on the neighbourhood policy of the Council of Europe in Baku next September. The Conference will provide a valuable forum for exploring the avenues for a long term engagement of the Council of Europe in the countries covered by the neighbourhood policy, taking fully into account the on-going debate within the Committee of Ministers on how to strengthen political dialogue with these countries.

At the Vienna Ministerial Session, the Ministers also examined a report on co-operation with the European Union and expressed their satisfaction regarding the development of such co-operation. The Azerbaijani chairmanship will seek to strengthen this co-operation, also with other international organizations such as the OSCE and the United Nations.

Two items were particularly high on the agenda of the Session of the Committee of Ministers and will remain a priority for the months ahead: firstly, the situation in Ukraine and secondly, the Secretary General’s report on the state of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe which was the first such report ever examined at the Ministerial level. Based on the findings of the Council of Europe monitoring bodies, the Secretary General’s report has identified a number of important challenges faced by member States. The report also includes very useful proposals for action that will now be considered by the Ministers’ Deputies. In two weeks’ time, the Deputies will have a thematic debate that should lead to the adoption of decisions giving appropriate follow-up.

Regarding the situation in Ukraine, all participants in Vienna called for a de-escalation and a peaceful resolution of the crisis through dialogue and direct negotiations. Many colleagues reiterated firm commitment to the respect for the territorial integrity, unity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. The Ministers also welcomed the assistance provided by the Council of Europe to Ukraine, particularly regarding the preparation of the elections, constitutional and judiciary reforms, as well as the work of the International Advisory Panel set up to oversee the investigations into the violent incidents which took place in Ukraine since the beginning of the crisis. With regard to elections, one can only be satisfied that last month’s Presidential elections were held with a high level of participation in a peaceful atmosphere in line with international commitments. In this regard, the contribution of Assembly, including through sending of a delegation to observe the elections, was most appreciated.

The Committee of Ministers will continue to provide all the assistance requested by the Ukrainian authorities with a view to consolidating democratic progress of the country. It will also continue to monitor developments in the region.

Beyond Ukraine, other developments in member States have been discussed by the Ministers’ Deputies since the last Session. Last April, they examined a new report of the Secretary General on the conflict in Georgia. In the light of the report, they expressed their concern at continued human rights violations of those residing within the zones affected by the conflict and reiterated their unequivocal support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders.

Also in April, the Committee of Ministers reaffirmed its absolute opposition to the death penalty and reiterated the objective to create a death penalty free zone in Europe. In a Declaration adopted on 28 May, the Committee of Ministers deeply regretted the most recent execution in Belarus, and appealed to the authorities to commute the sentencing of the two remaining persons sentenced to death in 2013.

Finally, in early June, the Committee of Ministers agreed by vote to Kosovo’s request for membership in the Venice Commission. As you know, member States remain divided on the subject of the status of Kosovo in international law. In this respect, the Committee of Ministers recalled that membership in the Venice Commission is without prejudice to the positions of individual Council of Europe member States on the status of Kosovo. The Council of Europe will continue to implement its activities in a status-neutral way in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

These are, Madam President, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the developments on which I wanted to inform you. I should add that I attach high importance to the Committee of Ministers maintaining a frank and constructive dialogue with the Assembly. I will now respond with pleasure and dignity to the questions that the distinguished members of the Assembly may wish to ask.

Thank you.