Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 23
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
The statement adopted at the Eastern Partnership Summit is a great victory of Azerbaijan, Novruz Mammadov, assistant to the Azerbaijani president for foreign policy issues, head of the department, said at a briefing on Dec. 23.
He said there is something missing in today’s world – justice and international law have been put aside.
“In this case, the threat of a great war is even closer. The leaders and public of these states should be more sensitive and should not stay away from the principle of justice,” noted Mammadov.
“Does the European Union have to wait for such a decision after the separatism incidents in Europe?” said the Azerbaijani top official commenting on the decision of the EU on territorial integrity and sovereignty of Eastern Partnership countries.
“It had to be done long ago. The principle of “let’s decide about it, if separatism occurs in any European country” is incorrect. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was one of the first conflicts that emerged after the collapse of the USSR, and if there has been a concrete and fair position on the conflict, and the problem has been solved, there would not have been other conflicts. The whole world would have seen that there are no prospects if you take a step beyond international law. But they see there is a conflict and it lasts for many years and it cannot be resolved; in such a case conflicts increase,” noted Mammadov.
Noting that in general, 2017 was one of very successful years for Azerbaijan, the top official said the support to territorial integrity and sovereignty of countries, reflected in the statement of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels in November, is of great importance.
“This, in fact, is a great victory of the Azerbaijani side in the conflict's settlement. If there were dual approaches in the position of European countries, there will be no more after this. This will also strengthen the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs’ attention to the issue,” added Mammadov.