Azerbaijan is considering a full withdrawal from the Council of Europe, President Ilham Aliev said in opening remarks at the 4th Shusha Global Media Forum on Monday.
– “I’ll say openly: Azerbaijan is seriously considering a full exit of this organization. Not suspending or freezing the membership – we are clearly considering a full withdrawal. The secretary general of the Council of Europe has contacted me asking not to do so and find a way to mend the situation,” the Azerbaijanian leader revealed.
– Should the former Soviet republic leave the Council of Europe, nobody will feel that, he argued. “I mean, little will change here. Perhaps, things will even change for the better. We are not seeking confrontation. Azerbaijan is being discriminated against, and their claims are groundless,” the head of state emphasized.
– According to Aliyev, his country has been discriminated against at the Council of Europe for two years already. In January 2024, the republic’s delegation was deprived of its voting rights, he recounted. “That was punishment exactly for our position, for our territorial integrity,” the Azerbaijanian president explained.
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