The incitement of hatred by Armenians seriously undermines the efforts and work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to strengthen democracy, Head of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE Samad Seyidov said at a spring session of the organization in France, Trend reports April 8.

“We see a lot of changes in our region,” he said. “But one negative factor remains - incitement of hatred from the Armenian colleagues. This seriously undermines our efforts as a democratic organization.”

Speaking about the report regarding the work of PACE, Seyidov noted that this report doesn’t reflect positive changes in Azerbaijan.

“I cannot recall the case when some negative processes in regions such as ours, including Azerbaijan, wouldn’t be mentioned during discussions of such reports on the progress of the Assembly’s work,” he said. “There are a lot of positive things happening in Azerbaijan. The report should reflect this. Recently, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree of pardon and much of what we heard today no longer exists.”

“More than 60 people have been released from the list we often hear about at the Assembly meetings,” he noted. “This is an extremely important fact. Recently, the president of Azerbaijan has also signed a special decree on the very important plan of reform in the judicial system of Azerbaijan, which completely fits into the values of the Council of Europe. ​​These points aren’t reflected in the progress report on the PACE’s work. However, this is an essential document.”

The PACE spring session is taking place April 8-12 in Strasbourg (France).

trend.az