Author: Janet Ekmekjian

Azerbaijani press: Novruz Mammadov: Azerbaijan itself can decide whether to leave Council of Europe or not

Janet Ekmekjian

By  Trend


It is up to Azerbaijan to decide whether to leave the Council of Europe or not, Novruz Mammadov, assistant to the president for foreign policy issues, head of department, told reporters in Baku on October 23.

“Azerbaijan can take every step within its own interests whenever it needs that. No one in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe or in Europe wants Azerbaijan to leave the Council of Europe. The issue cannot be put in the form of Azerbaijan’s removal from the organization,” said Mammadov.

“Today, the world community needs justice, but, unfortunately, PACE and other such organizations sacrifice justice for smaller geopolitical interests,” noted the presidential assistant.

He said there cannot be universal values, commonly referred to by the West, if there is no justice.

“If there is no justice, human rights and freedoms will be exploited and put forward as a political factor,” added Mammadov.

Azerbaijan wants the international organizations, where it is a member, to be fair, said the top official.

“A state, which occupies a part of the territory of a member of the Council of Europe, is also a member of that same organization. However, nobody says anything to the invader – Armenia,” he noted.

Mammadov went on to say that in the 21st century, at a time when human intelligence is the most developed, the processes taking place in the world, between countries, and in countries are evident.

“Thousands of people die in Iraq, Syria, Libya and dozens of African states every day. Nobody speaks about it, but these processes do not happen by themselves,” he said, adding that in this case suffering aren’t only those states where these processes happen.

“The threat is growing and those big states ultimately suffer from it,” added the Azerbaijani official.

Two world wars happened in the 20th century and none of them was initiated by small states, said Mammadov.

“In such situations, serious threats emerge for big states too. That is the main issue,” he added.

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Azerbaijani Press: Italy as OSCE chairing country will try to contribute to Nagorno- Karabakh conflict resolution

Janet Ekmekjian
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 19 2017
17:13 (UTC+04:00)
374

By  Trend

Next year, Italy, within the framework of the OSCE chairmanship, will try to contribute to the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Senator Benedetto Della Vedova, Secretary of State of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

Vedova made the remark at the conference dedicated to the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Italy, the Azerbaijani embassy reported.

Vedova highlighted the high level relations established between the two countries in all spheres, Italy-Azerbaijan strategic partnership, efforts by the Italian government to deepen relations, the importance of TAP project and the steps taken by the government for the timely realization of the project, the full support of Italy for further deepening of the cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.

Chairman of the Standing Committee on EU Affairs of the Italian Senate Vanino Kitty, addressing the event, touched upon the relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union and the contribution that Italy can make to their expansion. He further recalled his last year's visit to Azerbaijan jointly with the members of the commission and informed about the meetings held during this visit, positive impressions of Azerbaijan.

Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, spoke about the difficulties faced by Azerbaijan in the early years of independence, Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan and the conflict resolution process, the growing influence of Azerbaijan in international arena, the independent foreign policy of Azerbaijan on bilateral and multilateral basis, and country's success in political, economic, social and other areas.

He stressed that Azerbaijan plays an important role in ensuring stability and security in the region.

Vice President of the Italian Senate Linda Lanzilotta expressed her satisfaction with the strategic partnership established between the two countries, the dynamics of relations in the political, economic and cultural spheres and spoke about the opportunities for further expansion of cooperation between the two countries, as well as the contribution of interparliamentary contacts to the Azerbaijani-Italian relations.

The senator recalled the great geopolitical importance of Azerbaijan for established 'political geography and location'.

President of the Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Italy-Azerbaijan Sergio Divina, for his part, highlighted the importance of the event, the friendship between Italy and Azerbaijan and the excellent relations in all areas.

Azer Kerimli, the deputy chairman of the working group on Azerbaijani-Italian inter-parliamentary relations in the Parliament of Azerbaijan, spoke about the history of Azerbaijani-Italian relations, cooperation between the two countries in various spheres, mutual visits, the contribution made by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation to the development of ties, importance of the interparliamentary cooperation, the successes achieved by Azerbaijan in the period of independence, as well as the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

Italian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Augusto Massari, who joined the event via a video call, stressed the importance of strategic partnership between the two countries, the importance of Azerbaijan for Italy and the opportunities that exist for further deepening of ties.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Italy Mammad Ahmedzade, speaking at the event, informed about the way that led the sides to the achievement of the strategic partnership level, high-level visits, a joint statement on strategic partnership, adopted during the official visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Italy in 2014, an important exchange of experience in the cultural, scientific, educational spheres, in particular the contribution of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, as well as the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), Azerbaijan's expectations in connection with possible contrubutions of Italy's chairmanship in the OSCE in the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The event, which saw a very large participation, achieved the goal of highlighting all the way done in the relations between Rome and Baku, the many achievements made and to shed light on the new challenges on the horizon of cooperation strategic between the two countries.

The event held at Palazzo Giustiniani Palace on October 18 was one in the series of events organized on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and Azerbaijan, was attended by representatives of the Italian parliament, government, academic circles, diplomatic corps accredited in the country and mass media.