Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 28
Trend:
During the working visit to the UN Office in Geneva, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
Mammadyarov said that the Azerbaijani government continues to improve the refugees and internally displaced people’s living conditions in the country. At the same time, he stressed that a sustainable solution to the IDPs problem is the elimination of the occupation factor to ensure the return to their homeland.
The Azerbaijani foreign minister updated Grandi about the ongoing negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
He stressed that Azerbaijan stands for substantive and results-oriented negotiations. It was emphasized that the existing status quo is unacceptable and the Armenian troops must be withdrawn from all occupied Azerbaijani territories in accordance with the corresponding UN Security Council resolutions.
Mammadyarov also pointed out the need not to remain indifferent to Armenia’s policy on the illegal settlement of the refugees of Armenian origin from the Middle East to the occupied Azerbaijani territories, which is contrary to the requirements of international humanitarian law.
In his turn, Grandi thanked the Azerbaijani side for its financial contribution to the budget of the UN High Commission for Refugees during this year. He expressed satisfaction with the existing cooperation with Azerbaijan and expressed hope for further expansion of these ties in the future.
Mammadyarov invited Grandi to take part in the 18th Summit of Non-Aligned Movement Member States' Heads of State and Government on October 25-26, 2019 in Baku.
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.
