Azerbaijan, Russia sign MoU on cooperation of civic groups
The Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of Azerbaijan and the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation signed "MoU on cooperation and joint action" on Tuesday, AzerTac state news agency reported.
The document was signed by chairman of the Council, member of
Milli Majlis (parliament) Azay Guliyev and Deputy Secretary of
Russia's Public Chamber, Mikhail Ostrovsky.
"The cooperation between these institutions is important to support
the Diasporas and study the state of ethnic relations in order to
prevent disputes and conflicts based on national-ethnic grounds,"
Guliyev said.
Guliyev also thanked to Public Chamber for the agreement (in accordance with the memorandum) on the provision of necessary arrangements for meetings and dialogue between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities.
"Undoubtedly, such meetings will improve mutual understanding between communities and allow Azerbaijanis and Armenians to reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict soon," Guliyev noted.
Ostrovsky, in his turn, said that millions of people in the
non-governmental sector in both countries are interested in close
cooperation.
"Diasporas, both Azerbaijani in Russia, and Russian in Azerbaijan,
are actively involved in social and political life. I think that it
is in itself already imposes on us the duty to establish this close
cooperation," he said.
The MoU establishes a general framework of cooperation between
the Council of State Support to NGOs and the Public Chamber of
Russia.
The main objectives of the obligations set out in this MoU is to
promote friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijani and Russian
people, as well as strengthening the dialogue and cooperation
between the institutions of civil society in both countries, the
implementation of joint civic projects and programs in socially
important areas.