Azernews.Az

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev termed as ``courageous`` the decision to hold the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly`s session outside the European Union as the organization`s two-day session opened in Baku on Tuesday.

``This session shows our partnership spirit,`` President Aliyev told the plenary session of Euronest, a legislative body of the EU`s Eastern Partnership program. The president added that the event will strengthen partnership between Azerbaijan and European institutions.

Touching upon Azerbaijan`s achievements and reforms implemented since the country`s independence, Aliyev said human rights and freedoms have ``become realities`` in Azerbaijan.

Aliyev said a solid foundation of statehood has been laid over the past 20 years. He said the country has carried out economic and political reforms thanks to the strong will of the Azerbaijani people.

``Our aim is to grow into a developed nation and we will achieve it,`` Aliyev said, noting that it will be possible due to the existing clear political system, a strong economy, stable social policy, the country`s favorable location and other important factors.

The Azerbaijani leader said the Nagorno Karabakh conflict with Armenia remains the country`s only problem. He stressed that the armed conflict in the early 1990s forced some 300,000 Azerbaijanis out of their homes in Armenia and 700,000 people were ousted from Nagorno Karabakh and adjacent regions. Armenia invaded 20 percent of the country`s territory.

``In spite of many decisions and resolutions of the UN Security Council, European Parliament, Council of Europe, OSCE and other international organizations, Armenia is unwilling to withdraw from these territories,`` Aliyev said. He also reminded that 613 civilians, including women and children, were brutally killed in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly on February 25-26, 1992.

The UN has passed four resolutions on an unconditional pullout of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, but none of them have been implemented so far.

The president went on to say that Azerbaijan has a multinational society, underlining that there has never been any conflict on the grounds of religion or nationality.

On the large-scale energy and transport projects, President Aliyev said Azerbaijan is a ``reliable partner`` in ensuring energy security. This policy, he said, is in line with the national interests.

``By creating various oil and gas corridors, we have linked the Caspian Sea with the Black and Mediterranean Seas and allowed our neighbors to use the infrastructure,`` Aliyev said, pointing out that Azerbaijan has become a key gas supplier in the world and Europe`s reliable partner.

He said the country enjoys strong international support as it claimed a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council in October 2011 after securing 155 votes.

The second session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly being held in Baku brought together about 200 delegates from European countries, including MPs, public figures and representatives of political parties represented in the European Parliament.

Speakers at the opening of Euronest`s session said the organization should enhance parliamentary democracy and contribute to freer and fairer elections in the EU`s eastern neighborhood countries.

``This meeting here is another occasion to reflect on powers of democracy,`` said the Euronest co-chair from EP side, MEP Kristian Vigenin, citing the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus as a ``challenge but also an opportunity for our neighbors to reconfirm their place among European democracies``.

Because Belarus lacks internationally-recognized parliamentary power, it is not taking part in Euronest, but a standing Euronest working group on Belarus aims to bring it into the Assembly as soon as possible, according to the EU office in Azerbaijan.

Vigenin thanked Azerbaijan for hosting the meeting and for creating the right ``technical and political conditions`` to hold the Euronest session in Baku. He also mentioned the importance of the participation of representatives of the Armenian parliament, despite their long-standing conflict with Azerbaijan, which still affects bilateral relationships in the region.

Vigenin said that the strong participation of MEPs was a sign of the European Parliament`s attention to the developing relationships with neighbors to the east.

The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly is a multilateral platform for cooperation between the European Parliament and parliaments in the EU`s eastern neighborhood. It consists of 60 MEPs and 10 MPs from each of the five eastern partner countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Armenian MPs` protests
As the Euronest session proceeded, Armenian MPs began to express protests over the condemnation of Armenia`s policy of aggression against neighboring Azerbaijan.

The delegation of Armenian deputies came out against the fact that Armenians were called fascists.

Azerbaijani MP Fuad Muradov responded by saying that ``nothing new was said`` during the meeting.

``We stand by our positions on the issues that we raised in Strasbourg, Brussels and Washington, and this is our fair position confirmed by international documents,`` Muradov said.

He called on European MPs not to allow further interference with the assembly`s work.

Another Azerbaijani MP, Malahat Ibrahimgyzy, said that international values and the rule of law should be mandatory for all.

``If we`re talking about the rule of law, we must also note the international rule of law,`` she said. ``There is no room for emotion here. We refer to documents that have been adopted by such reputable organizations as the UN, the European Union and OSCE. Let them express their discontent with those documents, not with speeches.``

MP Azer Karimli said that until the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is resolved and the occupied Azerbaijani territories are liberated, cooperation between Azerbaijan and Armenia under the Eastern Partnership is impossible.

The head of the Armenian delegation, Vahan Hovhannisyan, finally spoke in a different way.

``After tense discussions at the Euronest meeting, an atmosphere of compromise between the Azerbaijani and Armenian deputies emerged,`` Hovhannisyan said. ``This is a favorable development between the two countries experiencing tensions. I very much hope that the present attitude of the two countries` deputies will foster an environment of compromise between the two governments. This would result in a constructive elimination of tensions.``