Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

President Ilham Aliyev has said that peace will come to the Caucasus on the basis of five principles Baku recently offered for normalizing relations with Armenia.

He made the remarks during a meeting with Polish Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Zbigniew Rau on March 31.

“The five principles we have initiated reflect the norms of international law and good international conduct... Reciprocal recognition of territorial integrity and inviolability of international borders, and then the delimitation of borders – I think that peace will come to the Caucasus on this basis. We want it,” he said.

The president emphasized that these principles are fundamental to any country's interstate relations.

“We are seeing the potential for active cooperation amongst the three countries of the South Caucasus, and I think that this will be important not only for these countries but also for the wider region,” he said.

He underlined that all these issues need to be addressed very carefully and in a timely manner.

Moreover, Aliyev thanked Poland for its continuous support in matters of cooperation with the European Union.

“This process is now in full swing, and the European Union has already announced that a new meeting between the Armenian prime minister and myself will be organized by President Charles Michel,” he said.

Expressing hope that this meeting will be productive because there have already been several meetings, the president stated that “we must move towards peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia and sign a peace agreement as soon as possible”.

“In our view, Azerbaijan has laid out the main principles of this agreement,” he said.

Noting that the conflict has already been resolved, Aliyev underlined that now is the time to normalize relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“We are receiving certain messages from Armenian officials. As I was recently informed that one of these messages is that they consider our proposal acceptable. This is very good news, and I hope that this issue will be clarified at the meeting in Brussels,” he said.

The head of state noted that during the 30 years of occupation, the Armenians committed atrocities in the Azerbaijani lands, destroyed historical, religious, cultural sites and other buildings. He described the Armenian-laid mines as the biggest problem facing the country in the liberated territories.

Aliyev also informed Zbigniew Rau that 4,000 Azerbaijanis had been missing since the first Armenia-Azerbaijan war.

The president added that Zbigniew Rau's visit to Azerbaijan is a good opportunity to discuss important issues on the agenda.

“Of course, as the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, you and I will discuss the post-conflict situation in the region. At the same time, the bilateral agenda between Poland and Azerbaijan is very extensive,” he said.

Noting that heads of state communicate on a regular basis, Aliyev added that Azerbaijani-Polish relations are a good example of a strong partnership.

In turn, Zbigniew Rau expressed his hope that Azerbaijani-Armenian relations would return to normal, noting that the current stage leading to a settlement seemed very optimistic.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office said that those processes were very gratifying for the Caucasus region, as well as for Central and Eastern Europe, as they created new opportunities for the future.

He also stressed that Azerbaijan had now become a major regional transport and logistical center.

Noting the successful development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Poland, Zbigniew Rau stressed that a meeting of the intergovernmental commission would be held in the coming months to expand economic and trade ties.

He added that Polish companies are also interested in the reconstruction of Azerbaijan's liberated territories.

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