By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
Azerbaijan seriously considered leaving the Council of Europe and has not abandoned the option, President Ilham Aliyev said, taking a dispute that has kept the country's parliamentary delegation outside the organization for more than two years to a new level.
Speaking at the Fourth Shusha Global Media Forum, Aliyev said the government had discussed not only suspending participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, known as PACE, but withdrawing from the Council of Europe altogether.
The plan was put on hold after Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset asked Baku to seek a way to repair relations, according to Aliyev. He said the intervention had produced no progress and that Azerbaijan would return to PACE only after the rights of its delegation were restored.
"We were seriously evaluating a complete departure from the institution, not only freezing our membership in PACE but also leaving the Council of Europe as a whole," Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan has not submitted a formal withdrawal notice and remains one of the Council of Europe's 46 member states. Its delegation is absent from the organization's parliamentary assembly, but the country has not completed or publicly initiated the legal process required to leave the wider institution.
Aliyev sets condition for return to PACE
Aliyev accused PACE of discriminating against Azerbaijan and imposing conditions that Baku could not accept.
He also challenged the legitimacy of rulings by judges of the European Court of Human Rights elected during Azerbaijan's absence from the assembly, arguing that the country had been deprived of its parliamentary rights and therefore had no role in their selection.
Baku's condition for returning is direct.
"They should restore the voting rights of the Azerbaijani delegation, and after that, the Azerbaijani delegation will come back," Aliyev said.
His remarks turn a prolonged institutional standoff into an explicit warning that Azerbaijan could leave the Council of Europe if no settlement is reached.
No deadline was announced, and Aliyev did not say that withdrawal procedures had begun.
Dispute began with 2024 credentials decision
The crisis escalated in January 2024 when PACE refused to ratify the credentials of Azerbaijan's parliamentary delegation.
The resolution passed by 76 votes to 10, with four abstentions. The assembly cited concerns over elections, the separation of powers, judicial independence, human rights and Azerbaijan's cooperation with Council of Europe monitoring mechanisms.
PACE also referred to the humanitarian consequences of Azerbaijan's September 2023 military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh. It said its rapporteurs had been denied access to detainees, the Lachin Corridor and other areas relevant to their work.
The assembly stressed that its decision concerned the parliamentary delegation rather than Azerbaijan's membership of the Council of Europe. It said the delegation could resume its work once the conditions set out under PACE rules were met.
Baku rejected the decision as discriminatory and politically motivated. Its delegation suspended participation, and the dispute has remained unresolved since then.
PACE points to democratic and rights concerns
PACE maintains that the disagreement concerns Azerbaijan's obligations as a Council of Europe member rather than hostility towards the country.
Its monitoring bodies have raised concerns about the treatment of journalists, political activists, civil society organizations and government critics, as well as restrictions on media freedom and political participation.
A 2025 monitoring report said conditions related to democracy, the rule of law and human rights had deteriorated further. It called for the release of people detained on what it described as politically motivated charges and criticized Azerbaijan's lack of cooperation with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.
Azerbaijan rejects those assessments and accuses European institutions of applying double standards, particularly following the restoration of its control over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The dispute also follows Baku's decision to freeze cooperation with the European Parliament after a resolution reopened questions over the return of Armenians to Karabakh, detainees and cultural heritage.
Baku has also objected to criticism from PACE members over the 2023 operation and the displacement of the region's Armenian population.
PACE representation is not the same as membership
The distinction between PACE and the Council of Europe is central to the dispute.
The Council of Europe is an intergovernmental organization focused on human rights, democracy and the rule of law. PACE is its parliamentary body, composed of members selected by national legislatures.
A country can remain inside the Council of Europe while its parliamentary delegation is absent or its credentials are rejected.
That is Azerbaijan's current position. It remains represented in the organization's intergovernmental structures, but its parliament has not participated in PACE since the 2024 rupture.
A full withdrawal would have much wider consequences. It could affect Azerbaijan's relationship with the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights and the monitoring bodies attached to Council of Europe membership.
Aliyev's statement does not amount to a formal departure. It confirms, however, that withdrawal has been discussed at government level and remains available as political leverage.
Neither side accepts the other's sequence
Berset has sought to preserve dialogue, but Aliyev's account indicates that his intervention has not produced a compromise acceptable to Baku.
PACE has given no indication that it will restore the delegation without changes in Azerbaijan's cooperation and domestic record. Azerbaijan rejects any arrangement that requires it to satisfy political conditions before its parliamentary rights are reinstated.
The dispute is therefore not only about substance, but also about sequence.
PACE argues that Azerbaijan must meet the required conditions before its delegation can return. Baku insists that its rights must be restored before participation resumes.
Azerbaijan remains in the Council of Europe, but Aliyev has made clear that continued membership should not be assumed indefinitely.
Whether the crisis ends in compromise or withdrawal will depend on which side is prepared to move first.
Sources: Presidency of Azerbaijan, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Council of Europe monitoring documents and Bosphorus News review.