Azerbaijan’s foreign minister meets with president of OSCE assembly

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan’s foreign minister held discussions Wednesday with the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on the sidelines of an international conference in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

Jeyhun Bayramov spoke with Margareta Cederfelt on prospects for cooperation between his country and the assembly and on possible contributions of the assembly to the normalization process of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that Bayramov expressed confidence that the two-day international conference, which was jointly organized by Azerbaijan's parliament and the OSCE assembly, would contribute to further deepening cooperation.

It said Bayramov also informed Cederfelt about the current situation in the region and the large-scale reconstruction and construction projects carried out in the Karabakh region, which was liberated from nearly 30 years of Armenian occupation in the fall of 2020 following 44 days of clashes.

“Despite Armenia's provocations and efforts to slow down the processes, he informed about the steps taken by Azerbaijan in the direction of ensuring peace and stability in the region, including the signing of the peace agreement, the opening of all communications, and other issues,” the statement said.

The statement also said that attention was paid to other issues in the region such as threats from mines, violence against Azerbaijani soldiers captured by Armenia, and Yerevan’s lack of fulfillment of its obligations within the framework of the Tripartite Declaration.

For her part, Cederfelt said she and her delegation explored Zangilan District in the East Zangezur Economic Region during her visit to the country and got acquainted with Azerbaijan’s reconstruction projects in the area, the statement said.

The statement further said that Cederfelt also spoke about the importance of ensuring peace and security in the region and emphasized that the OSCE assembly “promotes peace, stability, parliamentary diplomacy and works towards ensuring peace in the region.”