Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
Strong conversation between government and civil society is very important for the future of Azerbaijan, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said at a press conference in Baku Feb. 17.
Nuland is visiting Baku as part of her tour to the countries in the South Caucasus.
"We agreed [during talks in Baku] that we will continue conversation and strengthen it by creating a US-Azerbaijan dialogue on civil society and democracy," she said.
"This will be the US-Azerbaijan bilateral structure that will be working in parallel with the work that Azerbaijan has with the Council of Europe," Nuland said.
It should be noted that earlier the Working Group on Human Rights resumed its work in Azerbaijan.
The head of the department on work with law-enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan's presidential administration, Fuad Alasgarov and head of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, Samad Seyidov were elected the co-chairs of the working group.
Human rights activists Seadet Benenyarli and Sahib Mammadov were elected the secretaries of the working group.
The working group's members, citing the memorandum on creation of the group, signed 2005, confirmed the Azerbaijani society's intention to effectively address human rights issues through dialogue with civil society.
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Aygun Badalova is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AygunBadalova