Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

President Ilham Aliyev has said that Azerbaijan is ready to start peace negotiations and sign a peace agreement with Armenia.

He made the remarks in an address to the VIII Global Baku Forum - "The World after COVID-19" on November 4.

Peace with Armenia

“Today, once again, I say that we are ready to start peace talks, we are ready to work on a peace agreement, we are ready to turn the page, we are ready to start border delimitation,” he said.

Stating that Azerbaijan has sent a number of proposals to Armenia to start working on a peace agreement and on delimitation and demarcation of the state borders with the recognition of territorial integrity of both countries, the president emphasized that this proposal remains unanswered. He stressed that Azerbaijan demonstrates maximum constructiveness despite all the sufferings of almost 30 years of occupation, despite vandalism and barbarism on the liberated territories.

“But you will see that there will be no answer from Armenia. They keep silent for almost one year. I don’t think that they are now in the position to oppose Azerbaijani constructive proposals,” the president stated.

He added that everything will now depend on Armenia’s position as "our position is absolutely clear".

Emphasizing that the liberated territories had been completely razed to the ground, the head of state said that Armenia had even destroyed all historical buildings, 65 out of 67 mosques, and all public buildings.

“So, this is actually the proof of barbarism,” the president emphasized.

Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan is currently restoring the liberated territories and a large-scale state program is already underway.

“I am sure that in a relatively short period of time we will be able to return former refugees, more than one million people who suffered from Armenian occupation,” he said.

The president emphasized that the war and the results of the war showed that "sooner or later justice is prevailing".

"You must be committed to your cause, you must be well prepared, and you must have an international legal framework and a high level of motivation of the people. So, all those factors including our military capability were the main reason for resolution of the conflict," Aliyev stated.

Noting that he has always raised the issue of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the Global Baku Forum, Aliyev underlined that this conflict has been resolved. The head of state stressed that Azerbaijan has itself implemented the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, which demanded immediate, unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

“Unfortunately, these resolutions remained on paper for 27 years, and probably, would have remained on paper for another 27 years if Azerbaijan did not itself restore its territorial integrity, using the chapter 51 of UN Charter which provides the right for self-defence using the international legal framework,” Aliyev stressed.

Azerbaijan’s support in fighting COVID-19

Aliyev stressed that since the first days of the pandemic, Azerbaijan took very proactive steps both domestically and internationally.

Noting that Azerbaijan was one of the first countries in the region to start the vaccination process, he emphasized that so far more than 60 percent of the population above 18 years old received both doses.

“In a relatively short period of time, we managed to create 13 new state hospitals with the total number of beds-almost 4,000. In general, 46 state hospitals have been allocated to treat pandemic. Now we don’t have a lockdown. The situation is under control,” he said.

He noted that Azerbaijan provided a social economics support package, worth $2.9 billion, for those who lost jobs and suffered from these lockdowns.

The president emphasized that on a global scale, Azerbaijan also took very active steps in its capacity as a current chair of the Turkic-speaking countries’ Cooperation Council and Non-Aligned Movement.

"Last year we initiated two summits of both institutions in April and May, particularly addressing COVID. At the Summit of Non-Aligned Movement, we launched an initiative to hold the UN General Assembly Special Session on COVID which was supported by an absolute majority of the international community... At the same time, we launched the initiative in United Nations Human Rights Council, with respect to equal and universal access to vaccine and fair distribution of vaccines," he said.

He stressed that Azerbaijan is one of the countries which openly speaks about such an issue like vaccine nationalism and unfair distribution of vaccines on a global scale.

"At the same time, I would like to say that based on our initiative the database for COVID treatment which has been established with our participation is used by World Health Organization, I mean in the countries of Non-Aligned Movement which also makes it easier to plan and to forecast the support," he added.

The head of state emphasized that as a chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan has provided financial and humanitarian assistance to more than 30 countries and delivered free doses of vaccines to some countries. He added that Azerbaijan also made a voluntary donation to WHO to support poor countries worth $10 million.

Southern Gas Corridor

The president underlined that the completion of the Southern Gas Corridor project was a historical achievement for Azerbaijan, its neighbors, and Europe as it is an important factor in European energy security and a tool for diversification.

The head of state noted that Azerbaijan had transported over 14 billion cubic meters of gas via this route to Turkey, Georgia, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria over the ten months of the year. He added that half of the volume was used by the European Union consumers.

"In those countries where Azerbaijani gas is delivered there is no gas crisis, there is no price crisis, and there is no freezing. So, this demonstrates that the Southern Gas Corridor is really a project of energy security of Europe," Aliyev said.

"Azerbaijan as a responsible country, as a producer and exporter now not only of oil but natural gas will play in the future very important role in the energy security issues," he added.

Organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center under the patronage of President Ilham Aliyev, the next Global Baku Forum under the motto "The world after COVID-19” kicked off in Baku on November 4.

The 8th Global Baku Forum brings together high-level representatives, including former heads of state and government, officials of international and non-governmental organizations from more than 40 countries, as well as other distinguished guests to discuss issues of global importance.

The Forum will feature panel discussions on such topics as "New world order after COVID-19", "New world economy", "In a new era: peace, security and human rights", "Combatting climate change and meeting global energy demand", "Health care and vaccination", "Promoting food security", "Eastern Partnership and its opportunities", including the situation in the EU, the Balkans, and the South Caucasus.

The forum will last until November 6.

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