Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe | The Economist
▻http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2013/03/azerbaijan?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/azerbaijanandthecouncilofeurope
AZERBAIJAN is not really a democracy according to Freedom House, a watchdog. Since the early 1990s, it says, elections have been deeply flawed. Parliament is rubber-stamping the government’s decisions. Corruption is widespread.
In theory only democratic countries can join the Council of Europe (CoE), which promotes human rights. Yet Azerbaijan has been a member since 2001.