Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The Azerbaijan Office of Communications (OCAZ) organized a reception in the European Parliament in Brussels on February 16.

The event, hosted by Member of the European Parliament for the South-East France constituency Gaston Franco, brought together officials of the Parliament, as well as more than 100 MPs.

Director of the OCAZ Muslum Mammadov praised Azerbaijan's relations with European Institutions, as well as with the EU.

Mammadov stated Azerbaijan is a relatively new country and a new democracy and is willing to improve permanently its good relations with European Institutions.

He mentioned that last November, Azerbaijan and the EU signed the visa facilitation agreement at the Vilnius summit and this agreement will facilitate the relations between the two partners.

Mammadov voided desire that members of the European Parliament can visit Azerbaijan and make their own judgments about this fast growing and changing country located in a important strategically region for Europe.

He also provided an insight into history and consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Azerbaijan will never stop urging the International Community and the European Union to comply with International Law and United Nations resolutions, which express the full sovereignty of Azerbaijan on the province of Karabakh," he said.

Mammadov also spoke about the very serious tension on the front line and about the recent incidents and urged Parliamentarians to remain involved in solving the conflict.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. After a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.