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--