Domestic

Domestic

Andres Herkel: â€œI cannot disagree to the claims of double standard approach against Azerbaijan compared with Armeniaâ€

15 April 2008 14:46 (UTC +04:00)

Therefore, I approve the decision on holding extraordinary discussions on Armenia on the fourth day of PACE spring sessionâ€, PACE Monitoring Committee Co-Rapporteur on Azerbaijan Andres Herkel told APAâ€™s Europe bureau exclusively. Andres Herkel said he did not have strict position on Armenia in the discussions on the post-election situation in Russia and Armenia.
â€œAs regards Russia, I think that no serious report has been prepared on this country for a long time and this situation is not in line with the principle of preparing regular report on the countries under monitoring. Of course, my main task is to deal with Azerbaijan first of all. But I make remarks in connection with the other countries in the plenary sessions and committee meetings. I do not think that PACE pursue double standard policy. Assembly has not decisive approach on commitments of several countries and double standard approach is observed. I am anxious about inadequate usage of power in the country and they understand seriousness of the issue after street fighting. Other countries may use this experiment to get power by means of force not elections. I am engaged in issues on Azerbaijan and I want to raise issues on Azerbaijan constantlyâ€, he said.
Andres Herkel stated that the date of co-rapporteursâ€™ visit to Azerbaijan had not been determined yet.
â€œI suppose that we will visit in the middle of May. The realization of the visit is important till the PACE June session. Andres Herkel is anxious about arrest of journalists in Azerbaijan. To him, if this problem is solved, co-rapporteurs can engaged in protection of rights of refugees from Nagorno Karabakh.