Baku to transfer chairmanship of CoE Committee of Ministers
By Sara Rajabova
Baku has hosted an international conference on Council of Europe`s policy towards neighboring regions under Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
This conference aimed to review the progress achieved so far in the implementation of the policy towards neighboring regions and provide an outlook for its future development, AzerTag news agency reported.
The event brought together representatives of the countries participating in the neighborhood policy program of the Council of Europe.
Addressing the event, Chairman of the Committee, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan sits at the crossroads of different cultures and civilizations.
He noted that Azerbaijan was initiator and host of the international events such as the World Intercultural Dialogue Forum and Baku International Humanitarian Forum.
Mammadyarov further said Azerbaijan is a steadily developing economy, stressing that oil and gas resources create opportunity for the country to improve its contributions to ensuring energy security of Europe.
He also highlighted the causes and consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which erupted back in 1988 over Armenia’s territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
Mammadyrov further informed that Azerbaijan will hand over the chairmanship of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to Belgium this week.
He said he would be visiting Strasbourg on November 13 to transfer the chairmanship to Belgium. He will report on the work done by Azerbaijan during the 6-month chairmanship.
Director of External Relations for the Council of Europe Zoltan Taubner said the conference will take stock of the progress achieved and determine future visions.
Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the committee started officially on May 14 and ends in November.