Baku politicians and experts see need for cooperation of Azerbaijan with USA in human rights sphere

The need for Azerbaijan's cooperation with the United States in the sphere of democracy and human rights was emphasized by Azeri politicians and civil society experts.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 17, Victoria Nuland, the assistant to the US Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, discussed in Azerbaijan with President Ilham Aliev the issues of respect in the country of human rights; she reported after the meeting about the agreement reached to establish a bilateral framework for the development of civil society in the country.

The joint Azerbaijani-American structure for democracy and human rights can be effective in the event that the real civil society will be represented in it, believes Arastun Orudjlu, the head of the "East-West" Research Centre.

In his comment on the Nuland's proposal, Asim Mollazade, an MP and the head of the Democratic Reforms Party, said that he believes in the possibility of a dialogue with the United States on these issues.

"I believe that this structure will serve the development of US-Azerbaijani relations," said Mollazade.

There will be sense in the dialogue with the authorities of Azerbaijan only if they recognize the problems with human rights, believes Gyunay Ismailova, the lawyer of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS).

"For a real dialogue, the authorities should express their willingness to solve the problem of political prisoners, and in the first place to release all the known prominent human rights activists – the 'prisoners of conscience': Rasul Jafarov, Anar Mamedli, Arif and Leyla Yunus, Intigam Aliev, journalists Khadija Ismayilova and Rauf Mirkadyrov," said Gyunay Ismailova.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.