Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) enjoy good opportunities for expanding relations on the basis of mutual trust and respect.

This was announced during Baku visit of newly-elected PACE President Pedro Agramunt. The two-day visit was one of Agramunt’s first foreign visits after his election to this post.

During the visit, Agramunt was received by President Ilham Aliyev, who noted that Azerbaijan as a member of the PACE continues its contribution to the positive development processes.

The head of the state believes that the partnership between Azerbaijan and PACE would advance to a new level of development. Reminding that the country has been cooperating with this organization for 15 years, President Aliyev described Agramunt’s visit as a good sign of the bilateral cooperation.

Agramunt, in turn, said that Azerbaijan is of great importance to him.

The high-ranking official stressed the significance of discussing the issues of mutual interest at a time when the world, especially Europe faced different challenges, adding that Azerbaijan was an important country from the point of view of resolution of some issues.

Agramunt, upon his arrival to the country, announced that the PACE intends to develop cooperation with Azerbaijan on all directions, as well as within the organization’s structures.

In general, the relations between Azerbaijan and PACE stand at a good level, however there are issues that need to be discussed, Agramunt stated then.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov also received Agramunt to discuss negotiation process on settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Addressing the meeting, Mammadyarov emphasized the inadmissibility of using force to change the internationally recognized borders.

The foreign minister stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and all the international community confirm the instability and the unacceptability of the status quo.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Referring to the PACE discussions over resolutions related to Nagorno-Karabakh, Mammadyarov stressed that to include such sensitive and serious issues like violation of the territorial integrity in the agenda of international organizations is the sovereign right of countries.

“To achieve the progress in the conflict settlement requires the withdrawal of Armenian forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan in accordance with the requirements of well-known UN Security Council resolutions,” Mammadyarov added.

He further said that the international community should pay special attention to the violation of rights of over one million Azerbaijani citizens who have become refugees and internally displaced persons as a result of Armenia’s occupation policy.

Mammadyarov further stressed that Azerbaijan is interested in cooperation with PACE in the field of parliamentary diplomacy.

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