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Azerbaijan seriously lags behind other Eastern Partnership countries
Baku/19.12.18/Turan: Azerbaijan, like other countries participating in the Eastern Partnership program, voluntarily assumed obligations, among which the priority is to ensure democracy and respect for human rights. However, despite the continuation of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU, in these areas, the situation is unsatisfactory, said the coordinator of the National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, Zaur Akper in an interview with the Cətin Sual (Difficult Question) program of the Turan Agency.
He said that the representatives of the Azerbaijani government will not actively participate in the activities of the Eastern Partnership program.
"We, the four countries of the Eastern Partnership have already signed associative or in-depth agreements with the EU. Armenia was the last country to sign a comprehensive cooperation agreement with the EU. It was expected that the new partnership agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU would be signed this year, but the parties could not come to an agreement," he said.
The fundamental problems of civil society remain unresolved in Azerbaijan. Due to limitations in legislation, NGOs cannot implement projects and are forced to participate in EU projects in a limited form - by entering into service agreements. At the same time, members of the National Platform actively participate in international events of the Civil Society Forum, discussing issues of human rights, democracy and the Karabakh conflict. At the same time, many platform members are faced with pressures and risks. Thus, due to the risks, a number of platform members cannot return to the country - Elchin Abdullayev, Anar Orujov, Leyla Aliyeva, Zohrab Ismail.
Other activists - Ziya Guliyev, Rasul Jafarov, Ilgar Huseynli, Hasan Huseynli face thorough border checks upon entering and leaving the country. All this is a form of pressure on civil society, the activist said. -06D--
Difficult question
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Less than two days remain until the early parliamentary elections. Today is the last day for campaigning and promotion. Is there a sense that an electoral process is taking place in the country?
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Azerbaijan's external public debt has decreased, while its domestic public debt has increased. As of July 1, 2024, the external public debt stood at USD 5.3613 billion, down by USD 1.0999 billion or 17% compared to the beginning of the year. In contrast, the domestic public debt amounted to 16.5719 billion manats, an increase of 705.5 million manats from the start of the year.
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Baku has included individuals who voted against the Azerbaijani delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on its "persona non grata" list. This was stated by the official representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Aykhan Hajizade, in response to comments made by German parliamentarian Frank Schwabe in an interview with Radio Azadliq.
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On August 23, in Tashkent, in the presence of President Ilham Aliyev and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, an allied document was signed between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
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