Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has called on the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) members to increase their support for a swift resolution of the long-standing Nagorno Karabakh conflict with Armenia.

"The occupation of 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan by neighboring Armenia and the existence of 1 million refugees and IDPs in our country remains one of the major impediments for the stability, development and prosperity of the ECO region. In this regard, the organization and its member states should extend their resolute and consistent support for the position of Azerbaijan aimed at speedy solution of the conflict and restoration of its territorial integrity," Mammadyarov told the 19th meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers in Istanbul on Wednesday.

The minister said regional cooperation is ruled out in the presence of "pockets of instability" across the region. "These are the most serious challenges that our region and the organization face. And we do believe that we should undertake more resolute attempts to address them."

Mammadyarov said further that given that transport is a key area of cooperation within the ECO and an essential prerequisite for regional trade development, Azerbaijan considers that it is necessary to exert efforts towards early completion of the major regional railway projects, namely Baku-Tbilisi-Kars and Qazvin-Rasht-Astara (Iran) – Astara (Azerbaijan), which will benefit the countries of the ECO region.

Mammadyarov noted that pursuing the policy of development of transit potential, Azerbaijan strives to diversify and modernize its transport infrastructure, which will serve the interconnection of the Trans-European and Trans-Asian railway networks. Along with this, the construction of the new international sea trade port and its logistics centre will significantly increase the competitiveness of the international transport corridors and transit capacity of the countries of the region, he said.

The minister said that at the same time, Azerbaijan is active in the implementation of regional energy projects, which will play a major role in the diversification of energy supplies, enhancement of energy security and boost the economies of the involved countries, including some ECO member states.

Mammadyarov said that despite the positive developments in the ECO, Azerbaijan "cannot be fully satisfied" with the progress and believes that the real potential of the organization still remains untapped.

"To fully realize it the ECO member states need to continue the process of reforms aimed at improvement of the efficiency of the organization."

Mammadyarov noted that the overall organizational setup of the ECO should be brought in accordance with the needs and challenges of the countries involved and of the whole region.

"We have succeeded in the establishment of the ECO as a full-fledged organization, however it needs to be operated efficiently and in concert. To improve this situation, a common and shared vision as well as strong commitment and engagement of all the ECO member states is essential."

Mammadyarov said that one should "restrain the temptation" to embrace more areas of cooperation.

"As our experience demonstrates, it is counter-productive. Therefore, our activity should become more focused, project-oriented, particularly in the planning and implementation phases. Moreover, it should be based on certain priorities and be relevant to our organizational capacities and limited resources. We are confident that the prioritization of cooperation fields, as well as increasing of the efficiency of the ECO working and expert groups would boost an overall effectiveness of our organization."

Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijan therefore believes that there is a strong need for the improvement of existing legal and operational mechanisms of cooperation within the ECO. In this regard, the process of reforms in the ECO should be continued and be placed on the top of the agenda.

In conclusion, Mammadyarov reiterated that Azerbaijan stands ready to play a proactive role in developing cooperation within the ECO and will continue to strive along with other member states towards the realization of the organization’s extensive potential.