Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan has set a goal and makes every effort to give an impetus to the development of the Economic Cooperation Organisation, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said at a meeting of the ECO Council of Foreign Ministers on Monday.

Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijan's priorities will be in such areas as the economy, trade and transport projects.

Touching on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov said it remains the main problem for the region. "We have no specific results on the resolution of the conflict."

Mammadyarov thanked all the ECO members for their support on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. - are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

The Economic Cooperation Organisation is a regional intergovernmental economic body established in 1985 by the countries of Central Asia and the Middle East and is the successor of the Regional Cooperation for Development which acted on the basis of the Charter - the Izmir Treaty, signed by three founding countries - Iran, Pakistan and Turkey on March 12, 1977.