Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 30
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey can cooperate on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif.
He made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani and Turkish counterparts, Elmar Mammadyarov and Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Baku on Nov. 30.
Speaking about the results of the trilateral meeting, the Pakistani minister noted that the parties have held very fruitful discussions today.
Issues of mutual interest were discussed, including the issues of cooperation in the defense industry and prospects for increasing the trade turnover, said the minister.
“We also agreed to expand inter-parliamentary ties. There is great potential for achieving greater effectiveness of our cooperation,” added the Pakistani official.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.