Mahmud Mammadguliyev: "We suggested AGO Group to stop monitoring on Azerbaijan"

Mahmud Mammadguliyev said he met with the Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis, AGO group and the head of permanent delegation of San-Marino chairing CE Committee of Ministers and these meetings were productive.

He said that AGO group has prepared several surveys on Azerbaijan, APA reports.

"These questions have already been sent to Azerbaijan and we will present our answers to AGO group. During our meeting with AGO group we made several proposals concerning mass media. We suggested them to prepare a wide and long-lasting program on mass media. It would be better for the CE, or EU to participate in the preparation of the program. AGO group mostly worried about mass media and political prisoners. We gave information about these issues to the group. As to political prisoners, we said that a special working group was formed on this problem and the group had a meeting in early December. Azerbaijan is ready to cooperate with AGO group on this problem," he said.

"We said that Azerbaijan is under special monitoring for 5 years. Basically, Azerbaijan has fulfilled the majority of the CE commitments. Some issues the fulfillments of which depend not only on Azerbaijan, but the whole region remain. We would like this monitoring process to finish soon and like other countries to be under ordinary monitoring. The monitoring is held in all CE member states and there are commitments have not been fulfilled in other countries. What is the need of holding monitoring within a special group in this case? AGO group is ready consider this issue and our permanent representation will continue work on the issue," he said.

Mahmud Mammadguliyev said he expressed gratitude to the CE Secretary General Terry Davis for his position on the referendum held in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

"In 15-20 minutes' meeting with Terry Davis we mainly discussed the situation in Azerbaijan and cooperation with the CE. As you know, Terry Davis made a statement on the referendum held in Nagorno Karabakh. May be the statement is not thorough and there are points in the statement that do not satisfy us. But anyway, I was grateful to the Secretary General for expressing his position on the issue," he said.