Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.29 / Trend /
The Azerbaijani ambassador to Egypt, Shahin Abdullayev gave an interview to the Egyptian satellite news channel "Nile", the Azerbaijani Embassy in Cairo told Trend.
Abdullayev spoke about Azerbaijan's history, culture, art, literature and traditions, the Azerbaijani people's relations with Arab-Islamic world and its contribution to the Islamic civilization and the world culture.
He said that the first newspaper in the country was published in 1875, the first opera in the Middle East, "Leyli and Majnun" was staged in Azerbaijan in 1908.
Abdullayev said in his interview that Armenia was founded on the ancient Azerbaijani lands and Karabakh is an ancient territory of Azerbaijan.
The diplomat spoke about the history of the Armenians' territorial claims to Azerbaijan, atrocities against the Azerbaijani people committed by Armenians, the current stage of the Armenian aggression and the situation of refugees and internally displaced persons in the country.
According to Abdullayev, Azerbaijan pursues foreign policy based on principles of equality and mutual benefit. He spoke about Azerbaijan's position on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, based on the principles of international law, especially the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states. Abdullayev noted that Armenia is in isolation, being a victim of its own aggressive policy and chauvinism.
According to him, Azerbaijan, which is faithful to the Neighborhood Policy in the legal status of the Caspian Sea, develops relations with Russia and Iran based on it.