BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 30
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey isn’t directed against any country, but is aimed to ensure peace and stability in the region, Ziyafat Asgarov, chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Committee on Defense, Security and Combating Corruption, said on Sept.30, Trend reports.
Asgarov made the remark during the discussions of the bill "On approval of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Turkey "On training of special forces of the Azerbaijan Army and the Armed Forces of Turkey" at the parliament meeting.
He stressed that Armenia must recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
“We want Armenia to recognize the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, create conditions for opening communications. Only in this case, economic and other relations with Armenia can be established,” the MP noted.
“Unfortunately, we do not see this. On the contrary, it resorts to provocations, trying to "revive" the OSCE Minsk Group [which unsuccessfully moderated negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan since 1994 to resolve the Karabakh conflict peacefully until the 2020 Second Karabakh War]. The conflict is over, since Azerbaijan has liberated its territories from Armenian occupation [in the 2020 war]. Today we can talk about the directions of future cooperation," added Asgarov.
Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.
A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Karabakh conflict were introduced on Nov. 10, 2020.
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, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.