MP: Azerbaijan demands unbiased attitude from PACE members

Azerbaijan is not against the PACE co-rapporteurs but demands unbiased attitude.

The statement came from Samad Seyidov, head of the Azerbaijani delegation in the Assembly, News.Az reported.

“Though the PACE committee on legal issues issued a mandate with a new name of the report to the rapporteur, unfortunately, Strasser is interested only in studying the issue of the so-called political prisoners in Azerbaijan which does not comply with his mandate”, Seyidov said.

He noted that discussions on this issue will continue in late May at the session of the legal committee in Paris.

“Azerbaijani delegation is not seeking to eliminate the co-rapporteurs institute. This is the institute for procedural issues and we are not against the CE rules. But we are displeased with the biased position of some of the PACE members.

Azerbaijani side remains constructive in this sense but the rapporteur must also follow these regulations”, he said.

As for Strasser’s call for boycotting Eurovision in Baku, Seyidov noted that ‘this fact is really another proof of his bias’.

“What does the Eurovision song contest have to do with the discussion of issues in the Council of Europe? This issue goes beyond his authority”, he said.