IF AZERBAIJAN DOES NOT SET ABOUT DEMOCRATIZATION, IT CANNOT REMAIN PART OF CE, PACE REPRESENTATIVE SAID

PanARMENIAN.Net - If Azerbaijan does not follow European values, its membership in the Council of Europe (CE) will turn into a farce, stated co-rapporteur of the monitoring committee of the CE Parliamentary Assembly on Azerbaijan Andreas Gross. In his opinion, if the CE does not display adherence to principles in the issue in question, it will lose its authority. "We were rather pessimistic over Azerbaijan's accession to the Council of Europe. But we did it, as we believe that democracy is a peculiar process that can be started by any state. However, today we see that our expectations turned out to be illusions," the co-rapporteur said. In spite the recent presidential election in Azerbaijan was held with transgressions, we want to give Ilham Aliyev a chance to develop democratic institutions, so that one can speak of forming democracy in Azerbaijan within the coming three of four months," the Swedish parliamentary said. Answering the question which sphere of Azerbaijan is in the worst state, Gross stated: "There is no sphere there that is in a good condition, thus it would be more correct to ask which sphere the most serious violations were registered in."