Statement by US representative to the OSCE Permanent Council
US representative to the OSCE Permanent Council Gary Robbins has made a statement which reads:
The United States is pleased that agreement has been reached with the government of Azerbaijan for the OSCE to maintain its important presence in Baku when the OSCE Office’s current mandate expires at the end of the year.
We joined consensus because we strongly support the important work of the office in assisting Azerbaijan to meet its commitments in all three OSCE dimensions. We are pleased that the office will continue to “support cooperation between the Government of Azerbaijan and the OSCE and its institutions aimed at implementing OSCE principles and commitments.” We welcome the pledge this agreement represents to ensure implementation of commitments in all three OSCE dimensions, including commitments to Azerbaijan’s democratic development.
The foundation of any truly democratic state is respect for the rule of law, human rights, and fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of association, assembly, and expression. We will look to the Government of Azerbaijan to ensure a continued robust OSCE field presence that works in all three dimensions throughout the country and engages with the full spectrum of Azerbaijani society, as provided for in the current and future mandates of the office. -02D-
Politics
-
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Moscow on January 17 and make statements for the press, according to the Kremlin's press service.
-
On January 13, the trial in the case of public activist Nijat Ibrahim continued in the Baku Serious Crimes Court under the chairmanship of Judge Aygun Gurbanova. The trial was suspended after Ibrahim, in protest against the illegal arrest, began banging his head against the "aquarium cage", trying to commit suicide. At the beginning of the trial, he stated that he had been illegally detained for 4 months, and because of this, his family in Moldova was in a difficult situation, Turan announced this on its Twitter.
-
The International Committee of Concerned Scholars (ICS) has appealed to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, requesting his assistance in securing the release of the arrested researcher, Igbal Abilov. The ICS expressed concern that Abilov's arrest "may be related to his research on ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan, conducted in collaboration with scholars from Armenia."
-
Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maka Botchorishvili, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Georgia, Faig Guliyev.
Rəy yaz