Azerbaijan responds to Council of Europe's Fifth Opinion on Protection of National Minorities

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has announced that the Republic of Azerbaijan has closely cooperated with the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention during the fifth cycle of the country-specific monitoring.

"Azerbaijan is an active and responsible party to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and very well known for the promotion of ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious tolerance and respect worldwide," Caliber.Az reports via the ministry’s statement.

“Following the submission of the report under this cycle, the delegation of the Committee visited Azerbaijan, along with representatives of numerous relevant state institutions, met with representatives of national minorities in the regions, and had a meeting at the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights [Ombudsman] and with minority NGOs,” the ministry said. 

“While the Fifth Opinion of the Advisory Committee published on November 18, 2024 notes the efforts of the Government in the implementation of the Convention, the certain approach applied by the Committee raises serious questions since a number of the conclusions are unsubstantiated and do not accurately reflect the realities on the ground. The Opinion overlooked and ignored many positive national achievements, successful national policies, reforms, and initiatives,” the ministry noted.    

“At a time when delicate efforts in the post-conflict period were in the process of planning following the elimination of military occupation of a part of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which had impeded the Government from exercising sovereign control in these territories and fully applying the provisions of the Framework Convention concerning persons belonging to Armenian ethnicity residing therein, the Advisory Committee should not have rushed in making judgments and deployed the necessary caution not to impede the already fragile process,” the statement said. 

The ministry noted that regretfully, the Committee took a different path by arbitrarily expanding the scope of its assessment beyond the timeframe it was mandated for, which indicates the politically motivated and biased approach. The Advisory Committee’s selective approach focusing on the Armenian ethnic group, while neglecting others, and overreliance on information from unidentified sources without specifying the relevant examples, further demonstrates a predisposed approach by the Committee. 

“The Framework Convention not only provides for the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities but is also based on the necessity of respecting the rule of law and the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and constitutional structure of the respective states. Despite this, the Opinion unilaterally mentions the need to protect the rights of ethnic Armenian residents and ignores the obligation of persons belonging to that category to comply with the legislation of Azerbaijan,” the ministry said. 

According to the statement, another matter of great concern is the inconsistent application of the standards to the Member States. Unfortunately, some countries are treated differently despite similar situations regarding minority rights. The rights of Azerbaijanis who were forcibly expelled from their native lands in Armenia as a result of the ethnic cleansing policies continue to be ignored by the Committee. 

“Moreover, the evaluation of the overall human rights situation in the country goes beyond the mandate of the Advisory Committee and the scope of the Convention, while also lacking a clear connection with the purpose and objectives of the Opinion. In this regard, the call by the Advisory Committee to revise the Law on Media, and Law on NGOs is neither relevant nor adequate,” the ministry said.  

“The protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and ensuring a decent standard of living for its citizens is the supreme goal of the state. Consistent measures have been and are being taken in this direction in Azerbaijan,” the statement said.

By Naila Huseynova