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Azerbaijan, Russia ombudspersons ink co-op agreement

28 December 2016 10:22 (UTC +04:00)

Human rights commissioners of Azerbaijan and Russia Elmira Suleymanova and Tatyana Moskalkova, respectively, have signed an agreement on bilateral cooperation.

The document was signed during a conference titled “Multiculturalism and human rights: equality, cooperation, development”, held in Baku Dec. 28.

The conference is devoted to the 25th anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence, the ‘Year of multiculturalism’ in Azerbaijan and the 15th anniversary of the establishment of Ombudsman’s Office upon adoption of the Constitutional Law “On the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of Azerbaijan”.

The Azerbaijani ombudspersons presented a report in the conference, informing of the work done over the past 15 years.

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov, who also chairs the State Committee for Work with Refugees and IDPs, said that the Azerbaijani model of multiculturalism is studied throughout the world.

Hasanov also touched upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, blaming some international organizations for attempts to freeze the conflict.

“Azerbaijan will never reconcile itself to the occupation of its territories. The conflict still remains unresolved despite the numerous resolutions adopted by international organizations,” he said, adding that the Azerbaijani state has so far spent 6.2 billion manats for addressing the problems of refugees and IDPs.

Russian ombudsperson Tatyana Moskalkova said in her speech that Azerbaijan has achieved success in the field of human rights over the past 15 years. “The progress in the field of human rights is apparent in Azerbaijan,” she added.

Moskalkova noted that in Azerbaijan different religious denominations and ethnic minorities enjoy all legal rights.

In their speeches, Hijran Huseynova, chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, and Abulfas Garayev, Minister of Culture and Tourism, commended Azerbaijani Ombudsperson Suleymanova’s fruitful activity over the last 15 years.