BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 30
By Matanat Nasibova – Trend:
The election of Azerbaijan as a chairing country in such an authoritative international organization as the Non-Aligned Movement caused concern in the Armenian governmental circles, which is not surprising and was expected, Azerbaijani political expert and TV presenter Zaur Mammadov told Trend.
"This fact testifies that the leadership of this country is primarily disrespectful and irresponsible towards the norms and principles of international law and this fact is confirmed by those important resolutions that were adopted many years ago at the level of the UN Security Council and several other international organizations," Mammadov added.
“The Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement actually again reminded the world that there are protracted conflicts which should be resolved by joint efforts, as well as at the level of the NAM member-states,” the expert said.
"In particular, the president made important statements on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the summit in Baku, stressing the need to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations on the basis of the principle of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Mammadov said.
“This unequivocal message was heard and supported by the participants of the summit, and this should be regarded as a diplomatic and ideological victory of Azerbaijan’s state policy,” the expert said. “At the same time, this fact dealt a powerful blow to the occupation policy of Armenia, which continues to avoid substantive negotiations with Azerbaijan by all means."
Mammadov stressed that Azerbaijan supports global and regional efforts to ensure peace and security and continues to contribute to the development of mutually beneficial cooperation within interstate and international organizations.
"Prestigious events of international importance, which are regularly held in Baku, show Azerbaijan’s growing authority throughout the world,” the expert said. “In this case, Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement testifies to the world community’s high trust and respect for our country."
The 18th Summit of the heads of state and government of the NAM member countries was held in Baku on Oct. 25-26.
Azerbaijan will chair this structure in 2019-2022.
The NAM, uniting the countries that did not join any military-political blocs during the Cold War, was transformed into one of the important multilateral mechanisms. Today, the NAM is the second political platform after the UN, uniting in its ranks the biggest number of countries.
The heads of state and government of about 60 countries, as well as heads of international organizations attended the summit entitled "Ensuring a joint and adequate response to the challenges of the modern world, guided by the Bandung principles".
In general, representatives of about 160 countries and international organizations attended the summit. The Baku outcome document, the Baku declaration, the declaration on Palestine and the document of gratitude and solidarity with the government and people of the Republic of Azerbaijan were adopted following the summit.
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