Obliged to bring peace in Black Sea region, says head of regional body

By Busra Nur Cakmak

ANTALYA, Turkiye (AA) - We are obliged to bring peace, prosperity and cooperation to the Black Sea region, said the head of a regional organization.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum which concluded last week, Asaf Hajiyev, the secretary-general of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC), said the most important resource of the Black Sea region are the people who live there.

“Black Sea is important for the world because it can be considered as a bridge between Asia and Europe. At the same time the region is very rich in energy sources,” said Hajiyev.

“But the most important value of the region is not its geographical position or its resources. In fact, the most important value of the region, is the people who live here, different nations, with different traditions, different cultures, and moreover, with different religions,” he added.

“And we are in debt, we are obliged to bring peace, prosperity, and cooperation for the region,” he added amid a war between two PABSEC member states, Russia and Ukraine.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has not only affected those two countries and the PABSEC, but also the region and the world, said Hajiyev.

He said parliamentary diplomacy can play a positive role in ending the war and also dealing with its consequences, mainly the refugees.

“Parliamentary organizations, like PABSEC, have some good opportunities to start discussions between MPs,” Hajiyev said.

“As a result of this war, we now have more than 2 million refugees. They have to live a normal life, normal standards. So, it's necessary to prepare some legislation for refugees to organize for them normal life,” he added.

"Today in the world, (there are) more than 86 million refugees plus 2 million from Ukraine, it's close to 90 million,” he said.

This means every one in 100 people in the world is a refugee, he added.

But in the Black Sea region, this number is two times higher, he said. Among 50 people there is at least one refugee because the region has a population of 350 million, he added.

Hajiyev called for ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. “It's very, very dangerous situation in the Black Sea and all countries are trying to help, of course, is a very complicated problem.”

He said: “History shows that confrontation gives nothing to the world.”

“I think the Black Sea, I mean in our region should not divide countries, but it should unite people, unite countries, unite people with different religions, different culture, different nations.”

- Resumption of direct talks between Turkiye and Armenia

Hajiyev said that he is optimistic about the resumption of direct talks between Turkiye and Armenia.

A historic meeting took place Saturday between Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on the forum’s sidelines. It was the first high-level visit to Turkiye from Armenia after many years.

Cavusoglu told reporters that the meeting was "extremely fruitful and constructive."​​​​​​​

“I guess the new authority and nation in Armenia, at last, understood that it's necessary to have cooperation. But in this cooperation, Armenia is more interested than Turkiye,” said Hajiyev.

“And I hope that ... the new prime minister, the new party, they have to start cooperation with Turkiye. Turkiye is a huge, very important country in the world, and the huge neighbor of Armenia,” Hajiyev said, adding that also establishing relations with Azerbaijan will positively reflect on Armenia and its economy.

“And there are a lot of common things between Armenian and Azerbaijani people because we live in one region, South Caucasus, not big region, small region. And here should be friendship, should be cooperation, should be peace," he concluded.