Azernews.Az

By Sabina Mammadli

Against the backdrop of Baku's numerous steps to normalize Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, Yerevan persists in its provocations.

To summarize, Azerbaijan proposed signing a peace treaty and opening all regional communications as part of the aforementioned steps. For the first time since the 44-day war in 2020, Azerbaijani lawmakers visited Yerevan.

During his meeting with visiting Azerbaijani MPs in Yerevan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke positively about the advancement of Armenian-Turkish relations, his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels on December 14, 2021, and a virtual meeting also attended by Aliyev, French President Emanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel on February 4, 2022.

Armenian provocation

Another provocation was committed at a Yerevan-hosted joint meeting of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly's committees on economic integration, social issues, culture, and civil society during the discussion of the document "Capitals: Economic development in post-COVID realities", the author of which is Tahir Mirkishili, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation.

During her speech, Diana Sarumova, executive director of the European Business Association of Armenia, displayed a map that distorts Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, local media reported.

In his statement, Mirkishili described Diana Sarumova's actions as a provocation, and he urged everyone to follow the rules of the international organization.

He informed that part of Azerbaijan was incorrectly depicted on the map, which could have been avoided.

“If we invite someone to speak here, these issues should be taken into account and we should be treated with respect. We are members of Euronest PA. We must respect the norms of international law, the norms of the European Parliament, and the norms of the Partnership program. Therefore, I urge you to be careful, to stop provocations against our organization," the MP added.

MPs visit Blue Mosque

Tahir Mirkishili, the chairman of Azerbaijan's parliamentary committee on economic policy, industry, and entrepreneurship, and another MP, Soltan Mammadov, visited the Blue Mosque in capital Yerevan as part of their trip to Armenia.

"As far as we know, this is the only Azerbaijani monument preserved in Yerevan. Although there are inscriptions related to another state on its walls, these walls, and architecture as a whole belong to Azerbaijan," he explained.

Protests upon MPs' arrival

It should be noted that members of the Armenian ultranationalist left-wing party Dashnaktsutyun (Armenian Revolutionary Federation, ARF) gathered outside the Marriott Armenia hotel, where members of the Azerbaijani delegation were accommodated, and tried to get inside on February 22.

About a dozen protesters were detained during the clash outside the hotel, the report added.

As reported earlier, 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.

Azerbaijani MPs Tahir Mirkishili and Soltan Mammadov visited Yerevan to attend meetings of the committees of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, which was held on February 22.

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.

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