The new co-rapporteur of the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe for Azerbaijan will be appointed by the end of this year. "Several candidates claim to replace the former co-reporter Evgenia Zhivkova, but no concrete decision has been made on who will be appointed as the new co-rapporteur," Gultekin Hajibeyli, a member of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), told Trend News on August 25.

Joining the Council of Europe in 2001, Azerbaijan undertook a number of obligations. The Monitoring Committee observes implementation of these obligations. Zhivkova retired from the post of co-rapporteur of the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe on Azerbaijan in June.

Hajibeyli said that Azerbaijan is not involved in making decision to appoint co-rapporteurs. "Of course, we would like the co-rapporteur to become from one of the representatives of Turkey, Georgia and other countries close to us. However, the discussions in the Monitoring Committee are held behind closed doors, so the name of the new co-rapporteur will be made public only after a concrete decision," said the deputy.

She said that the Azerbaijani side categorically does not want the post of co-rapporteur to be held by individuals such as former co-rapporteur on Azerbaijan Andreas Gross.