President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev: "In spite of the fact that Azerbaijan has always remained true to its obligations to the Council of Europe, the Council of Europe still holds anti-Azerbaijani position."

When Azerbaijan and Armenia became members of the Council of Europe on January 17, 2001, on the same date, they undertook a number of obligations to the Council of Europe. One of these obligations was the matter of the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It should be emphasized that these obligations are monitored by the Council of Europe. It means that it is the co-rapporteurs' mandate to express an opinion on the matter of the conflict. Compared to the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan has always remained true to its obligations to the Council of Europe. During the speech to a group of athletes of Tartar district during the opening of Tartar olympic sports complex on June 3, 2020, the President Ilham Aliyev, who emphasized that Azerbaijan and Armenia became members of the Council of Europe on the same date and undertook a number of obligations, recalled that in spite of the fact that, compared to Armenia, Azerbaijan remains true to its obligations, the COE pursues a policy of double standards in relation to these two countries. PACE is regional platform where double standards have gained the widest scope, and unfortunately, Azerbaijan still continues to be one of the main targets of this approach. A number of the individuals who fulfil political order have been trying to use the PACE platform for unfounded criticism and slander against our country for about 20 years. During the meeting, the President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the following: "When I said that the documents adopted by the Council of Europe in connection with Azerbaijan are nothing more than a piece of paper for me, I meant this. All the Azerbaijani public saw that the Council of Europe holds anti-Azerbaijani position and anti-Azerbaijani trends, Azerbaijan-phobia prevail in this organization, and it is Azerbaijan-phobia that underlies all the accusations against us." The President Ilham Aliyev, describing relations with the Council of Europe, noted that they have fully responded to all these accusations and now wait for the Council of Europe to make statements about the proceedings in some countries of the world. The President Ilham Aliyev noted that police violence, force used against demonstrators, killing of demonstrators, blinding them, mass arrests, beatings and arrest of journalists are observed in European countries. They are to open their eyes, look at this and be ashamed that they are silent. Why? Because they are afraid of strong states. They consider that this matter is not related to the protection of human rights. Therefore, hypocritical nature of this structure is not a secret to anyone and we are not interested in whether they recognize these rigged elections or not. The main thing is that authoritative and respectable organizations of the world should not recognize rigged elections in Nagorno-Karabakh and condemn them. In spite of all the policy of discrimination and double standards pursued by the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan continues its development path, continuing implementation of its foreign and economic projects as independent state. The public of Gabala, like all the Azerbaijani people, support and promote the policy pursued by our esteemed president.