BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 22. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, together with Assistant of the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev, met with ambassadors of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation member states accredited in the country, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said, Trend reports.
It was noted that the meeting discussed the importance of further expanding our country's ties with fraternal and friendly Muslim countries, the process of presiding over the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), preparations for the upcoming meeting in November, the current situation in the region in the post-conflict period, prospects for normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and other regional security issues.
In his speech, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov emphasized that our country's relations with fraternal Muslim countries are among the main priorities. The unacceptability of the expanding conflict in the Middle East, the importance of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on UN Security Council resolutions and the "two-state" principle were noted.
Detailed information was provided on our country's upcoming presidency of COP29, the main vision and priorities, a number of areas, in particular the New Collective Quantitative Target for Climate Finance, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, adaptation, mitigation, biennial transparency reports, nationally determined contributions (NDC), as well as the presidency's action plan.
It was noted that significant progress in the negotiation process in these areas is encouraging, and that during the conference, which will be held from 11 to 22 November, a total of about 60 documents on various topical issues are planned to be adopted.
Minister Jeyhun Bayramov informed ambassadors of OIC about the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, noting that significant progress has been made in the peace process to date, in particular, an agreement has been reached on a certain section of the border in delimitation issues, and many provisions of the peace treaty have been agreed upon. It was also said that detailed discussions were held on the remaining provisions of the agreement at meetings in New York and Istanbul. At the same time, it was noted that the preservation of territorial claims against Azerbaijan in the Armenian constitution threatens sustainable peacebuilding efforts. It was also emphasized that it is important for Armenia to refrain from steps such as militarization, which could lead to escalation in the region.
Assistant of the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev, drawing attention to the importance of Islamic solidarity, stressed the importance of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between our countries, including within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the League of Arab States, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Speaking about the country's preparatory work within the framework of COP29, Hikmet Hajiyev said that our chairmanship is aimed at creating an important platform on climate change issues between the countries of the "Global South" and the "Global North".
It was noted that there were unfounded attempts to include issues such as the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the fact that "Azerbaijan is an oil country", as well as "human rights issues" in the COP agenda. In this regard, it was emphasized that such an approach is unacceptable, and that our country is always ready to discuss these areas on other platforms.
It was brought to attention that Azerbaijan is committed to the peace process with Armenia, but the half-hearted peace treaty proposed by Armenia is unacceptable. The importance of agreeing on the remaining provisions of the peace treaty was also emphasized. At the same time, it was noted that the source of the threat is the militarization of Armenia in the region.
The meeting then continued with a question and answer session.
