By  Trend

It is up to Azerbaijan to decide whether to leave the Council of Europe or not, Novruz Mammadov, assistant to the president for foreign policy issues, head of department, told reporters in Baku on October 23.

“Azerbaijan can take every step within its own interests whenever it needs that. No one in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe or in Europe wants Azerbaijan to leave the Council of Europe. The issue cannot be put in the form of Azerbaijan’s removal from the organization,” said Mammadov.

“Today, the world community needs justice, but, unfortunately, PACE and other such organizations sacrifice justice for smaller geopolitical interests,” noted the presidential assistant.

He said there cannot be universal values, commonly referred to by the West, if there is no justice.

“If there is no justice, human rights and freedoms will be exploited and put forward as a political factor,” added Mammadov.

Azerbaijan wants the international organizations, where it is a member, to be fair, said the top official.

“A state, which occupies a part of the territory of a member of the Council of Europe, is also a member of that same organization. However, nobody says anything to the invader – Armenia,” he noted.

Mammadov went on to say that in the 21st century, at a time when human intelligence is the most developed, the processes taking place in the world, between countries, and in countries are evident.

“Thousands of people die in Iraq, Syria, Libya and dozens of African states every day. Nobody speaks about it, but these processes do not happen by themselves,” he said, adding that in this case suffering aren’t only those states where these processes happen.

“The threat is growing and those big states ultimately suffer from it,” added the Azerbaijani official.

Two world wars happened in the 20th century and none of them was initiated by small states, said Mammadov.

“In such situations, serious threats emerge for big states too. That is the main issue,” he added.