Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Australia supports the efforts of Azerbaijan for a peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, head of Azerbaijani-Australian parliamentary friendship group Christoph John said.

Christoph John made the remark during the meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov in Baku.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

The official went on to say that there is a wide potential for cooperation both in political and economic spheres between Australia and Azerbaijan

“In particular there is good potential for cooperation in the agricultural sector and in tourism,” John said.

In turn, Khalafov noted the importance of development of political dialogue between the two countries, stressing that the expected visit of the Australian Foreign Minister to Azerbaijan, which will discuss specific projects and the increase in the volume of bilateral trade, may contribute to bilateral cooperation.

The Deputy Minister also expressed interest of the Azerbaijani side in attracting Australian companies to cooperate in energy, transport and tourism sectors.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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