It will be some time before Azerbaijan will be able to comply with the Council of Europe obligations concerning the protection of ethnic and national minority rights, announced the speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Ogtai Asadov on February 7, reported Day.az.  He said that a lengthy period will be required for Azerbaijan to meet a number of the obligations it signed on to including the protection of ethnic minority rights, adding that 20 of the 44 members of the Council of Europe have not yet resolved this issue. 

Azerbaijan became a full-fledged member of the Council of Europe in 2001, and has met most of the obligatory expectations of the group except for a law on alternative military service and minority rights, reported the news source. 

This information was originally published on February 7, 2008. (www.day.az)