AGHDAM, Azerbaijan, Sept.12
By Jani Babayeva - Trend:
Kazakhstan intends to import fruits and vegetables from Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, the Kazakh Vice Minister on Trade and Integration Kairat Torebayev said during his visit to Aghdam district, liberated from Armenian occupation in the 2020 second Karabakh war, within the delegation of the Turkic Council member states, Trend reports.
"A lot of work is to be done to restore infrastructure in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. There are prospects for promoting fruits and vegetables, which Azerbaijan will grow here. We’ll be glad to import these products," Torebayev noted.
According to him, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan do not compete in the field of agriculture.
"There is mutual understanding between us. For example, Azerbaijan has good fruit and vegetable products, which Kazakhstan wants to import and process, and in turn send wheat to Azerbaijan," he also noted.
"We’ve already received a proposal from the Azerbaijani side regarding the import of wheat, and addressed it. In Kazakhstan wholesale distribution centers are being built that will process, sort and export fruit and vegetable products. We want Azerbaijan to join this network, and already expressed this idea, and the Azerbaijani side met it with interest," he added.
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 first Karabakh war), 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.
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.