Turkish MP says Azerbaijan one of PACE's indispensable members

Azerbaijan was one of the essential members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Zeynep Yildiz, a member of the Turkish delegation to PACE, said in a debate.

"In the context of the multilateralism of this organisation, the presence of Azerbaijan here is one of the factors that distinguishes this institution from the European Union and other international organisations," the parliamentarian said, per Report.

According to Yildiz, PACE will be incomplete in the absence of Azerbaijan: "The absence of Azerbaijan will rob the organisation not only of pluralism as a basic philosophy but also of the possibility of resolving conflicts".

"Having spoken here in previous years, we all reaffirmed the internationally recognised territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Let me ask you, what has changed since then? We have to decide whether PACE is going to become a continental organisation like the European Union, or whether it will continue to be a platform that is based on dialogue and allows the parties to negotiate. Will it be a closed structure which limits its space or will it remember its identity as a global player," Yıldız asked her colleagues.

She concluded by urging deputies to maintain Azerbaijan's full membership in the Assembly.