Council of Europe to prepare report on situation regarding national minorities in Azerbaijan

Baku/01.11.23/Turan: A delegation from the Council of Europe's Advisory Committee under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities visited Azerbaijan last week (23-27 October).  It will assess the progress made in the protection of national minorities.

This was the the fifth visit of this mission to Azerbaijan, the Council of Europe said. It held meetings in Baku, Lankaran, Guba and Khynalyg with representatives of the authorities, civil society and national minorities and discussed the Framework Convention implementation.

At a meeting with government representatives, the delegation also raised issues related to the situation in Karabakh.

Note that the visit took place within the framework of the Advisory Committee's preparation for its fifth conclusion on the implementation of the Framework Convention in Azerbaijan. It is expected to be adopted in 2024, the press release said.

*The Council of Europe's Advisory Committee's previous opinion on Azerbaijan was published in February 2019. The Committee recognised that "a wide range of activities have been undertaken by the authorities in multi-ethnic Azerbaijan to support minority cultures", drawing attention to efforts "to educate young people on multiculturalism and tolerance".

However, national minorities are restricted in their right to express their opinions and face difficulties with education in their mother tongue. The Azerbaijani authorities disagreed with a number of provisions of the report. The rights of national minorities in the country "are built on solid legal foundations as reflected in the Constitution of Azerbaijan and other legal acts", the Government of Azerbaijan stated in its commentary to the report. -06В-