Aliyev receives Joao Soares

Joao Soares and his delegation met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev yesterday. Aliyev said the visit created a good opportunity to extend cooperation and discuss regional development.

Soares said effective discussions had been held with the the Azerbaijani delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. He said was impressed by the development in Azerbaijan and described Azerbaijan as a model country in the efficient use of its natural resources.

The head of state said that not only Baku, but also all the regions of Azerbaijan were developing rapidly. He said that the income from major energy projects was fairly used, good investment conditions had been created in the regions, the business environment was being improved and successful reforms were being carried out in all spheres of the economy. He said that even in a year of economic crisis the country’s economy had grown 9.3 percent, which was a great statistic by world standards.

Karabakh

Joao Soares met members of Azerbaijan's Karabakh community during his visit to Baku and discussed solutions to the conflict.

'The people displaced from Azerbaijan’s Nagorno Karabakh and the adjacent regions must return to their native lands. This is their sacred right,' Soares said at the meeting, according to the parliament’s press service.

The head of the Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh Region of the Azerbaijan Republic, Bayram Safarov, members Farhad Badalbayli and Vagif Farzaliyev, MPs Rzayev and Havva Mammadova called on the organization to work towards the restoration of the violated rights of the refugees and IDPs (internally displaced persons).

The conflicting sides and international organizations should unite their efforts in order to restore the violated rights of these people and solve the conflict, Soares said.

He had been received earlier by Azerbaijan’s foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov. Their discussion focused on the solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, the Foreign Ministry’s press service reported.

Elmar Mammadyarov said Armenia had occupied Azerbaijan’s territory and violated the norms and principles of international law. The minister said first of all it was important to overcome the consequences of the occupation. He said that the solution should come in stages. Armenian armed forces should be withdrawn from the occupied land, normal living conditions should be established there and communications opened, IDPs should return home and then the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be resolved, Mammadyarov said. These are the only conditions for sustainable peace and security.

Joao Soares said he agreed with Azerbaijan's approach and said that it was high time to solve the conflict.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

The speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament, Ogtay Asadov, also received Soares and his delegation.

Asadov talked about Azerbaijan's role in Europe’s energy security and security.

'The protracted conflicts in the region impede the region’s integration into European structures and development and also pose threat to the security of the South Caucasus. The August events in the region [the Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008] showed how dangerous the protraction of conflicts can be. Armenia, which ignores the resolutions and decisions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict passed by the UN Security Council and other international organizations, continues to pursue an aggressive policy. Armenian people have become hostage to the political ambitions of the diaspora,' Asadov said.

'Europe should make its choice, either choose development in the region, or listen to the fables of the Armenian lobby. Azerbaijani cultural monuments, clubs and libraries have been destroyed in Nagorno-Karabakh for 20 years and the world community looks away. Though the OSCE Minsk Group has been engaged in the solution to the problem for 18 years, unfortunately no real results have been achieved. We support the solution to the conflict within the international legal norms based on countries’ territorial integrity,' the parliamentary speaker continued.

Joao Soares said he had become better acquainted with the situation during his visit to the South Caucasus and told Ogtay Asadov that he would increase efforts to settle the problem.

'The solution of conflicts is the demand of the day in terms of the security and development of the region,' he said.

The deputy speaker of parliament and head of the permanent delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Bahar Muradova, also met Joao Soares.

Joao Soares was accompanied by Goran Lennmarker, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's special envoy on Karabakh.

APA