President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said Baku was considering full withdrawal from the 46-member organisation after Azerbaijan's voting rights in PACE were suspended in 2024, Euronews reports.
Azerbaijan is considering quitting the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday.
In his opening address at the fourth Shusha Global Media Forum, Aliyev stated that Baku was mulling "not just the suspension or freezing of our membership".
"We are unequivocally considering leaving that structure," Aliyev emphasised.
The Council of Europe's leadership has requested that a solution be found so that Azerbaijan can remain a member, according to the president.
"The secretary general of the Council of Europe (Alain Berset) contacted me and asked us not to do this and to find a way to improve the situation," he said.
The Council of Europe is a 46-member human rights body separate from the EU that oversees the European Court of Human Rights.
Azerbaijan remains a full member, although the voting rights of its delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) were suspended in 2024.
Recalling that he had led Azerbaijan’s delegation to PACE in 2001, Aliyev said he "regrets" the deterioration in relations and that Baku had no interest in deepening tensions. Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe in 2001.
"They must restore the voting rights of our delegation. After that, the Azerbaijani delegation will return," Azerbaijan's president said.
"We have not taken any wrong steps. They have made an unjust decision. Therefore, they must step back and acknowledge their mistakes. On many occasions, I have expressed my concern."
In his address, Aliyev also spoke about recent visits by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kalllas, describing the recent level of engagement between Baku and Brussels as significant.
Azerbaijan's president also turned to the war in the Middle East, saying Azerbaijan hoped the latest escalation would be short-lived.
“I hope that this current eruption of conflict will not last long," Aliyev said.
Drawing on Azerbaijan’s own experience, he said lasting peace "must be just and fair and based on international law and not based on someone’s ambitions and agenda.”
“My message to our neighbours is to be responsible and to stop as soon as possible, and to try to normalise relations and not to escalate this process," Aliyev concluded, appealing for restraint across the region.
Held under the theme “The Mission of the Media in Promoting Peace: Restoring Truth and Rebuilding Trust,” the Shusha Global Media Forum brought together broadcasters, editors, government officials and communications specialists to discuss the media’s role in peacebuilding, countering disinformation, and navigating the growing influence of artificial intelligence.
The opening day also features sessions on media diplomacy, public debate and reporting in post-conflict societies.
