Baku agrees to meeting of Azerbaijani, Russian, Armenian FMs

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Moscow is trying to arrange a meeting of Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian foreign ministers and Baku has given its consent to this meeting.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov announced about this at a joint briefing with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on January 31 in Baku.

“I cannot optimistically accept the results of the negotiations in Moscow,” Mammadyarov said commenting on the latest meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov which took place on January 24.

In Moscow, the ministers had comprehensive discussions on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They also exchanged views on the issues raised by the two countries’ presidents at the Vienna and Saint Petersburg meetings.

Mammadyarov further added that Munich Security Conference will be held on February 17-19 and it is planned to hold a meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs as part of the conference.

The OSCE Minsk Group has acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict so far.  But, the occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Restoration of liberated lands

Mammadyarov also touched upon the issue of restoration of the Azerbaijani lands liberated from the Armenian occupation.

The minister said that Azerbaijan holds negotiations to attract international organizations to this process.

"This is not a simple process - there are a number of issues regarding security, technical aspects of the issue, etc. It is necessary to prepare all proposals and consider in what form to attract international organizations to this process," the minister said.

On January 24, President Ilham Aliyev ordered to restore Jojug Marjanli village in Jabrayil region of Azerbaijan, which was liberated from the Armenian occupation in April 2016 as a result of a successful counter-attack of the Azerbaijani Army.

Under the presidential order, four million manats ($2.12 million) were allocated from the President`s 2017 Contingency Fund to the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs for the construction of 50 private houses, a school building and relevant infrastructure at the first stage.

More than 190 families out of 400 families, who once lived in the village, have already expressed desire to return to their homeland. The construction work in the village will begin soon, as first 50 families out of 190 will be settled in this village at the first stage.

Mammadyarov noted that first and foremost, Azerbaijan’s government will carry out the main work regarding restoration of the liberated lands, and on the second stage, the international organizations may be involved in the process.

“As a foreign minister, I am sure that Azerbaijan will liberate all the occupied territories and restore them," he added.

Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan are under the control of the Armenian military and separatists since a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan ended in 1994. Negotiations lasting for about 30 years have brought little progress in resolving the conflict, though a fragile truce has been in place.

Return of Azerbaijani soldier’s body

Mammadyarov also spoke about the issue of returning the body of Azerbaijani soldier, who was killed when suppressing Armenian provocation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border in late December 2016.

"Refusal to return the body of our soldier is an inhuman act," said the minister.

Mammadyarov condemned the actions of the Armenian side and said Azerbaijan will discuss this issue with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs as well. "Several times, we came to an agreement on the return of the bodies of those killed in the fighting," he said, adding that the aggressor country refuses to follow the agreements.

A reconnaissance group of the Armenian Armed Forces attempted to violate the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border on December 29, 2016. The Armenian group found itself in the ambush of the Azerbaijani army while violating the borders and suffered heavy losses. During the fighting, Azerbaijani serviceman Chingiz Gurbanov went missing. Later, it was clarified that he was killed by the Armenian Armed Forces and his body remained on the territory controlled by the Armenian Armed Forces.

The Azerbaijani side officially appealed to the Azerbaijani representation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), OSCE Minsk Group, as well as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk in order to return the body. Despite this, the body of Azerbaijani soldier has still not been returned.