Azerbaijani MPs received by Armenian PM
By Vugar Khalilov
Azerbaijani MPs Tahir Mirkishili and Soltan Mammadov have been received by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as part of their working visit to Yerevan, Trend reported on February 21.
Pashinyan met the Azerbaijani MPs along with Georgian and Ukrainian representatives in the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, as well as the co-chair of the European Union, the report added.
The participants discussed EU-Armenia and Azerbaijan-Armenia relations, as well as the situation around Ukraine in the meeting.
Mirkishili stressed that speaking about Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, Pashinyan said that despite the difficulties, certain steps have already been taken and agreements have been reached on a number of issues, including the opening of the railway (between Azerbaijan's exclave Nakhchivan and its other territories via Armenia), which is critical for regional communication.
"Then, Pashinyan touched upon the issues of handing over maps of minefields, delimitation, and demarcation of borders, the visit of a UNESCO mission to the region, the transfer of the remains of persons missing during the first Karabakh war,” he added.
The MP stated that Pashinyan also spoke positively about the progress of Armenian-Turkish ties, his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels, and the videoconference meeting held on February 4.
Mirkishili, speaking on behalf of the Azerbaijani delegation, emphasized that topics such as long-term peace, regional growth, communication openings, and reconstruction and construction activity are on Azerbaijan's agenda.
"I stressed that Azerbaijan has broad opportunities for cooperation with the countries of the region and the European Union in the field of energy security, economic development in the post-pandemic period, and the widespread use of technology,” the MP noted.
“I said that this was my first time in Yerevan and that this visit of the Azerbaijani delegation should be taken as another indicator of our country's goodwill for lasting peace. In general, the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere," he added.
The Azerbaijani MPs are visiting Yerevan to attend meetings of the committees of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, which is being held on February 22.
They will express Azerbaijan's position on issues on the agenda of the meetings.
It should be noted that a group of people describing themselves as war veterans blocked the road to Armenia's Zvartnots International Airport in protest against the arrival of Azerbaijani MPs in Yerevan on February 21.
The protesters also oppose the restoration of Yerevan-Istanbul flights and the rebuilding of relations with Turkey, the Armenian media reported.
Commenting on the visit of Azerbaijani MPs, Armenian MP from the Civil Contract faction Maria Karapetyan stated that it is their institutional, formal obligation to receive the Azerbaijani delegation like all other participants.
Azerbaijani MPs are reported to have no plans to communicate with the Armenian media.
The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly is the inter-parliamentary forum in which members of the European Parliament and the national parliaments of Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, and Georgia participate and forge closer political and economic ties with the European Union. It was established in 2011 by the European Commission as a component of the Eastern Partnership.
Armenia destroyed and vandalized Azerbaijani territories during the three-decade occupation between the early 1990s and late 2020. The scale of destructions on Azerbaijan's formerly occupied territories and mass graves found there is shocking, implying deep hatred and animosity toward the Azerbaijani people, with many experts describing these mass destructions and killings as genocide.
The country's war-torn Aghdam region alone is seen as a stark example of Armenian hatred and enmity. Aghdam, known as the "Hiroshima of the Caucasus" astounds delegations from all over the world with its infamous scenes of destruction.
---