FM: Shusha hosts event of symbolic importance
By Vugar Khalilov
Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has stated that the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s UN membership in Shusha bears symbolic significance, Trend reported on March 18.
Bayramov made the remarks at the event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Azerbaijan-UN partnership organized in liberated Shusha.
“This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan's membership in the UN. In this regard, a number of activities have already been carried out for some time. Several events were organized in Baku as well. It is symbolic that today such a conference is being held in Shusha, the cultural capital of Azerbaijan,” he underlined.
The minister noted that Azerbaijan places a high value on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sets priorities for the SDGs on challenges, that the global community confronting in numerous fields.
Bayramov added that Azerbaijan is carrying out systematic work to achieve progress in this direction.
"Azerbaijan is holding a special conference today in Shusha to discuss the challenges facing the world both in the post-conflict and post-pandemic period, in the context of the UN," he said.
Both leaders and representatives of the Azerbaijani government bodies, as well as leaders of UN agencies, are attending the conference, Bayramov underlined.
“We believe that this conference will become an important platform for discussing extremely important topics and will be useful for relations between Azerbaijan and the UN,” the minister said.
Bayramov emphasized that Azerbaijan provided $30 million in humanitarian aid in 2021.
He added that Azerbaijan as a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement during the COVID-19 pandemic had rendered humanitarian support to over 80 countries and also provided five countries with vaccines worth $2 million.
In his remarks at the event, Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev recalled that Azerbaijan needed UN assistance in the early years of its independence. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, has evolved into a country that contributes to UN initiatives and goals.
He stressed that the 30th anniversary of the partnership with the UN is celebrated in Azerbaijan’s cultural capital - Shusha.
"Azerbaijan became a member of the UN in March 1992 and two months later the city of Shusha was occupied by Armenia, destroyed and turned into ruins and after the victory of Azerbaijan in the second Karabakh war, the city of Shusha was liberated. Today Shusha is the cultural capital of Azerbaijan, also the diplomatic center where the prospects for relations between the UN and Azerbaijan are discussed, which is of great political, diplomatic and symbolic significance," Hajiyev highlighted.
Azerbaijan has been a member of the United Nations since March 2, 1992, when the UN General Assembly admitted the country during its 46th session.
In May 1992, the Republic of Azerbaijan established its Permanent Mission in New York City. Azerbaijan applied to the UN General Assembly for membership on October 29, 1991, shortly after gaining independence from the Soviet Union.
Azerbaijan was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2012-2013 term. It has reached out to the international community, particularly Europe, through the United Nations. Azerbaijan improved its relations with the United Nations by collaborating with UN agencies and bodies such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Food Programme, and the financial institutions of the United Nations.
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