Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Belgium has been discussed during a meeting between Azerbaijan’s president and Belgium’s top diplomat.

President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Didier Reynders, the chairman of the committee of ministers of the Council of Europe, and deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs, foreign trade and development cooperation of Belgium on April 28, AzerTac news agency reported.

Expressing satisfaction with the development of bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Belgium, the sides noted that there were mutual interests in expanding cooperation.

The successful operation of Belgian companies in Azerbaijan was also stressed. It was noted that the visit of the delegation led by Reynders to Azerbaijan created a good opportunity for discussing issues related to prospects for cooperation between the two countries.

During the conversation, the sides also exchanged views on the non-oil sector, culture, the simplification of the procedures for issuing visas, Azerbaijan-European Union cooperation and other issues.

Earlier in the day, Elmar Mammadyarov, Azerbaijan’s foreign minister and Reynders touched upon various issues during their meeting. He also focused on discussing the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

As he voiced interest to pay tribute to the displaced people in the country during the meeting with Mammadyarov, Reynders visited an IDPs district in Masazir, Absheron, as part of his Azerbaijan trip.

Accompanied by a large delegation, he was met in the district by Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijan`s deputy prime minister, chairman of the State Committee for Refugee and IDP Affairs, as well as heads of executive authorities of Absheron and Zangilan.

Hasanov hailed Reynders` attention to the problems of Azerbaijan refugees and IDPs, briefing him about the work implemented by government to deal with problem encountered by this segment of the population.

“Nearly 90 such residential districts for refugees and IDPs have been built in Baku, its outskirts and across the country. This has helped us improve the living conditions of 240,000 refugee and IDPs who previously experienced difficulty. However, we still have 210,000 people who live in difficult conditions in dormitories and half-built facilities. Necessary measures are being taken by the Azerbaijani government to improve their living conditions,” Hasanov said.

Reynders viewed Zangilan district secondary school and a kindergarten in the district. They had tea in the house of Nuraddin Hasanov, an IDP from Zangilan.

“The Armenians destroyed everything in the Azerbaijani territories, which was confirmed by the OSCE fact-finding mission,” Hasanov said, calling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Azerbaijan`s “number one problem”.

He also expressed regret over the fact that the Minsk Group, which mediates in the dispute, “has made no progress so far”.

“The reason is that the group`s co-chair countries were not properly formed, and they are far from objective. One of the main factors that give grounds to draw such conclusion is that the resolutions of influential international organizations, including the United Nations Security Council, PACE, OIC, have not been implemented by Armenia,” Hasanov said.

Reynders and his entourage then visited IDPs at the dormitory of Azerbaijan Technical University in Yasamal.

The bloody war, which flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor, left 700,000 civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the regions adjoining it, as well as the regions bordering with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh without homes.

Moreover, 250,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia and became refugees due to Armenia's ethnic cleansing policy after the emergence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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