Azerbaijan, Baku, July 13 / Trend E.Ostapenko /
It is fair to expect continued progress in achieving the European values from Azerbaijan, a country of young democracy, as it takes time to fully implement all the necessary requirements of the Council of Europe, Svante Cornell said, Research Director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
"Nobody is expecting and it is not realistic to expect that Azerbaijan should be to the level of the most advanced countries immediately," Cornell said commenting on the nature of the anti-Azerbaijani article recently posted in blog on the British publication "The Guardian".
Western journalist Afua Hirsch's article entitled "Why Azerbaijan is still a member of the Council of Europe?" very sharply and critically describes the situation of democracy and human rights in the country.
Cornell believes several countries in Eastern Europe have mixed records when it comes to human rights and democracy. Azerbaijan is one of them, which achieved some progress, but there are also many remaining problems.
"I think that there is no reason to single out Azerbaijan when you have a whole list of countries that have comparable situations. You could mention Russia, Armenia and a number of other countries," said Cornell, co-founder of the Institue for Security and Development Policy.
Joining the Council of Europe in 2001, Azerbaijan undertook the obligation to promote democratic values and protect fundamental human rights, which is the main focus of the organization. The country is regularly visited by representatives of various bodies of the Council of Europe to assess the achievements of Azerbaijan.
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