”I am going to visit Azerbaijan to participate at an international conference organized in Baku on December 2-3 by the Council of Europe and the ministers of culture of the member states to discuss intercultural dialogue. I have many expectations and I am always glad to visit Azerbaijan. Azeri people always welcome me well. Azeri nation has very rich culture that interests me very much.
That is why during my visit, I will visit the museums,” Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis reports APA Bureau.
Secretary General expressed his satisfaction on the level of tolerance and good attitude towards national minorities in Azerbaijan: “At the same time I think there is good attitude towards Azeri community in Georgia. As you know, I give great importance to how national minorities are being treated. My philosophy is quite simple – we are equal even if we are different. My main concern about Azerbaijan is freedom of press and freedom of speech. I will raise this problem during my next meetings with Azerbaijan state bodies. I know President Ilham Aliyev very well and appraise him. President Ilham Aliyev is doing much work for modernization and democratization of Azerbaijan. I look forward to meet with him within my visit”.
He also replied a question about the recent presidential election in the country. He said that he had no doubt that Ilham Aliyev had won a landslide victory.
“But I think Azerbaijan could have organized the elections much better. This would have served for interests of both Azerbaijan and the President. One of the most important issues in democratic societies is the attitude towards political opponents. Of course, legislation is necessary too. My father used to be interested in both football and politics. Once he told me: “Remember, the most important thing in both politics and football is to play well with the ball not the player”. His saying was very wise and reasonable. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the things one party thinks is incorrect may be correct. Today Azerbaijan has gained a number of achievements in democracy. It is necessary to speed up works in this direction,” he added.