Baku, Azerbaijan, May 21
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
Azerbaijan and the European Union will sign a strategic partnership agreement.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has presented the draft agreement to European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said May 21.
The draft agreement was also presented to the Vice President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini.
During the meeting that was held in Riga as part of the Eastern Partnership summit, it was noted that Azerbaijan has strategic partnership relations with many EU countries and this agreement will open new opportunities for the development of these relations.
Mammadyarov also drew the attention of the EU commissioner to the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stressed the importance of expressing an unambiguous and clear position on this issue.
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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Asebaa