BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.24
Trend:
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov took part in the annual ministerial meeting of landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), held in the format of a videoconference on September 23, 2020, the ministry told Trend.
During the opening of the meeting under the theme 'Accelerated implementation of the Vienna Program of Action in the COVID-19 Era and partnering for achieving sustainable development in LLDCs', which was held under the initiative of Kazakhstan, Chair of the Group of LLDCs, the Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi, President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkyr and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made speeches.
Representatives of 28 countries and international organizations took part in the general discussions of the event.
Speaking at the event, Foreign Minister Bayramov touched upon the measures taken by Azerbaijan in the fight against COVID-19, as well as the country’s contribution to bolstering the response efforts to the pandemic across the world.
The minister noted that Azerbaijan, attaching great importance to regional cooperation, hasn’t stopped the flow of supplies.
He also informed the meeting attendants about the country’s intra- and inter-regional transport connectivity projects, including the key infrastructure projects designed to increase transit capacity across Eurasia, as well as about upgrading the infrastructure of Azerbaijan's transport sector.
At the end of his speech, Bayramov brought the recent provocation by Armenia in July 2020 on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border to the event participants’ attention, stressing that armed forces of the country targeted the critical energy and transportation infrastructure.
He emphasized that this infrastructure is essential not only for Azerbaijan's economic development but in general for the Eurasian region.
The minister stressed the need for the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan.
The ministry pointed out that the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries was set up to promote effective transit cooperation between these countries in order to contribute to their integration into the world economy and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The group, including Azerbaijan, is represented by 32 countries.
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, 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.