Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Feb 16 2008
Azerbaijan Remains Neutral on Kosovo’s Independence Issue
16.02.08 14:32
Azerbaijan, Baku, 16 February / Trend News corr I. Alizade /
Azerbaijan will remain neutral when the recognition of Kosovo’s
independence will be discussed at the winter session of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
`The delegation to represent Azerbaijan at the session will stick to
the neutral position during the voting on the further status of
Kosovo. This decision was taken after the consultations with the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry,’ a source at the International
Relations Department at the Azerbaijani Parliament said to Trend on
16 February.
Since 1999, Kosovo region, which is formally a part of Serbia, has
been controlled by the UN. Kosovo strives for independence, but
Serbia offers only the status of autonomic region. The EU and USA are
ready to recognize Kosovo’s independence, while Russia supports the
position of Belgrade.
According to the Parliament, the MPs to representing Azerbaijan will
not speak at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s session on the Kosovo
conflict. Azerbaijani MPs will take the floor only in case of the
members of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE PA attempt to find a
connection between Kosovo and Nagorno-Karabakh.
`However, there are reports that the Armenian MPs are not to
participate in the OSCE PA session, because of the upcoming elections
to take place in country,’ the source said.
The winter session of the OSCE PA will take place in Vienna on 21-22
February. The agenda of the session will include Kosovo’s further
status and the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).
Azerbaijan will be represented at the session by a delegation headed
by the Deputy Speaker Bahar Muradova. The delegation includes MPs
Eldar Ibrahimov, Fatah Heydarov, Rabiyyat Aslanova, Azay Guliyev, and
the deputy head of the Department for International Relations at the
Parliament Ilgar Farzaliyev.
The delegation will head for Vienna on 18 February.