Azerbaijan resolute to restore regional peace Speech by Azerbaijani FM

The 27th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers was held in Shusha on October 10 within Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO).

At the beginning of the event, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov read Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s message. The message contained the prospects for cooperation that arose in the region in the post-conflict period, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Caliber.Az.

According to the message, the ECO’s theme this year has been determined as “Green Transition and Mutual Connections” at Azerbaijan’s initiative. Azerbaijan is taking consistent steps in this sphere both at the national and international levels. The creation of a “green energy” zone in the territories liberated from occupation is the result of the work carried out in these spheres.

Bayramov, who delivered a speech at the event, expressed conviction that such priority spheres as strengthening regional ties, economic transformation and green energy, reflected in the ECO Vision 2025 document, will continue developing.

The Azerbaijani minister touched upon initiatives at the national level, implemented during the period of Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in the ECO to strengthen the organisation’s cooperation with other regional and international platforms.

The foreign minister said that Azerbaijan is interested in developing cooperation in various spheres, while the activity of two specialised institutes of the organisation in Azerbaijan, namely, the ECO Clean Energy Centre and the ECO Research Centre testifies to the contribution to cooperation in relevant spheres.

While speaking about the current situation in the region and the realities of the post-conflict period, Bayramov emphasised that Azerbaijan has always sought to attract international attention to the presence of illegal Armenian armed groups in the region, which threatened regional peace and security.

By informing the participants about Azerbaijan’s local anti-terrorist measures that put an end to the provocations of illegal Armenian armed groups that threatened the peace process and reintegration, as well as about the ongoing mine threat, Bayramov said that as a result of these measures, the process of reintegration of the Armenian population living in the Garabagh region has intensified.

The minister emphasised that the establishment of a working group to meet the economic, social and humanitarian needs of local Armenian residents, the adoption of appropriate measures and the continuation of dialogue between the representative of the Azerbaijani government and representatives of the Armenian residents once again prove that accusations of alleged “ethnic cleansing” are groundless.

In this regard, Azerbaijan is determined not to miss the historic opportunity to establish peace and reintegration in the region, to promote the programme for normalising relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the process of reintegration of Armenian residents living in Azerbaijan.

The representatives of the ECO member states and observer countries, international partners and specialised institutions delivered speeches during the meeting.

The initiatives and proposals for the further development of regional cooperation within the ECO were heard, and other issues on the agenda were discussed.

The Shusha Declaration “On the green transition and interaction in the ECO region”, which outlines the work carried out to open transport and communication routes between the East Zangezur economic region and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, in particular, the protocol of intent dated October 6, 2023, envisaging the construction of a new railway between Azerbaijan and Iran, was adopted following the meeting.