Azerbaijan Archives

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan joined the OSCE in 1992 shortly after gaining its independence from the Soviet Union. In 2014, Azerbaijan hosted the Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Baku hosted an OSCE field office from July 2000 until its closure on December 31, 2015 pursuant to a request by the Government of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani government had downgraded the office to a “Project Coordinator” from 2014 to 2015. The OSCE office previously assisted the Government of Azerbaijan to comply with its OSCE commitments and adopt best practices in the realms of security, economy and environment, and human rights and democracy. The OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institution and Human Rights continues to observe national elections in Azerbaijan, with the exception of the November 2015 parliamentary election when restrictions imposed on observers by the Government of Azerbaijan forced ODIHR to cancel the observation mission. Azerbaijan has been at war with neighboring Armenia over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh since 1992. The United States serves alongside France and Russia as a co-chair of the OSCE-led Minsk Group process, which aims to facilitate a negotiated resolution to the conflict. A small team of OSCE monitors led by the “Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office on the Conflict Dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference” regularly visits the line of contact between the sides and documents violations of the 1994 ceasefire that was agreed after Armenia occupied Nagorno Karabakh and all or part of seven surrounding Azerbaijani territories. In legislation, hearings, briefings, statements, and international travel, the Helsinki Commission has worked to address the Azerbaijani government’s severe curtailing of fundamental freedoms in the country, particularly freedoms of association, speech, media, religion or belief, and assembly. Azerbaijan has been a member of the Council of Europe since 2001. In 2017, the European Union opened negotiations on a new agreement with Azerbaijan as as part of the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative.

Azerbaijan

Helsinki Commission Advances Human Rights, Demands f...

Helsinki Commission Chair and Co-Chair: Statement on...

Co-Chairman Cohen, Ranking Member Wilson Introduce T...

Sweden’s Leadership of the OSCE

COVID-19 Vaccination Rollouts Expose Underlying Ineq...

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde to Appear at Hels...

Helsinki Commission Commemorates 45 Years of Advanci...

Helsinki Commission Leaders Mark World Press Freedom...

Ten-Member Congressional Delegation Demonstrates Ong...

OSCE Ministerial Council Appoints Top Leaders, Adopt...

Helsinki Commission Digital Digest: December 2020

Helsinki Commission Digital Digest: October 2020