Foreign Ministry Issues Statement on Visits of Coe Secretary General and Pace President to Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the visits of Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland and President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Anne Brasseur to Azerbaijan.

Jagland and Brasseur were received by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Speaker of the Parliament Ogtay Asadov and other officials during the visits, the Foreign Ministry told APA.

At the meetings the sides exchanged views on the priorities for the Azerbaijani Chairmanship of the CoE Committee of Ministers, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, topical and regional issues, as well as the report by Jagland on the state of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe.

Council of Europe's Action Plan on Azerbaijan for 2014-2016 was presented with the participation of Jagland.

Visiting "ASAN Xidmet" Center No 4 of the State Agency for Public Services and Social Innovation, Jagland praised the activity of the service and said it can be a positive example for other European countries.

Anne Brasseur chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee at the Azerbaijani Parliament. Addressing the meeting, Brasseur said that the respect for the territorial integrity of member states is the fundamental principle of the organization. Touching upon Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Brasseur recalled the Resolution #1416 adopted at PACE in 2005. She also stressed that PACE has an unequivocal and principled position regarding the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

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