Being the Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mevlut Chavushoglu will be the new chairman of the Assembly's subcommittee on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"The subcommittee has not yet been established, but it is expected that I will be its chairman, Chavushoglu told journalists on April 14. It is a quite normal practice that a subcommittee is headed by the chairman of PACE. Former chairman of the subcommittee was also chairman of PACE."
PACE hopes that the subcommittee, which will begin its activities soon, will help resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
"We want the subcommittee to be attended by the Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations, and hope that its work will contribute," said Chavushoglu.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the United States - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.
Chavushoglu is on his first official visit to Azerbaijan after his appointment last year. In Baku Chavushoglu met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, the Speaker of the Parliament Oktay Asadov, representatives of political parties represented in parliament, as well as with heads of NGOs.
Chavushoglu described as successful his first visit to Baku. "We saw the desire of Azerbaijan to approach the criteria of the Council of Europe. There is hope that this will be during my chairmanship," said Chavushoglu.
In addition to Azerbaijan's 10-year membership to the PACE, during his visit, Chavushoglu discussed the upcoming parliamentary elections. He expressed satisfaction that the Azerbaijani side assured him of holding free and democratic elections.
"We believe in the promises given to us. We were persuaded of holding free and democratic elections," PACE President said.
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