Azerbaijan seeks to have good relations with neighbours, but Armenia should take steps in this direction too, said Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov. He made this statement on Tuesday, speaking at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University, Trend News reported.
The meeting was attended by expert on former USSR and Eastern Europe countries, former State Department official Stephen Sestanovich, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the United States, Yashar Aliyev, head of the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN Agshin Mehdiyev, professors and students of University.
In his speech, Mamedyarov particularly raised the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. According to the Minister, the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the main priority of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.
Azerbaijan has such a geopolitical location that the solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not only important for its own development, but also for the development of the whole region, said Mamedyarov.
He stressed that Azerbaijan’s position in this matter is clear: 20% of Azerbaijani lands are under occupation and more than a million people are refugees, only after the return of these people to their homes there can be any negotiations related to the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
In this regard, negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia are being held, the influence of countries such as USA, Russia and France is very important in resolving this conflict, said Mamedyarov.
Azerbaijan is located in the region, which unites East and West and using its geopolitical situation, it always made efforts to achieve stability in the region, he said.
Speaking of such projects as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and Nabucco gas pipeline, Elmar Mamedyarov said they have important role in the development of statehood and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and at the same time, they have large positive impact on the economic development of Azerbaijan, the countries of the region and beyond it.
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