Spain and Azerbaijan Committed to Building Trust and Increase
Cooperation While Raising Awareness About Frozen Conflict in
Nagorno-Karabakh
MADRID, November 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
The importance of building mutual trust between Spain and Azerbaijan in the areas of peace and security,
energy and trade was highlighted at a conference entitled
"Azerbaijan in Today's
Europe" on Thursday in
Madrid, Spain. It was further
announced that a new resolution on the situation in
Nagorno-Karabakh would be tabled soon in the Spanish Senate to
raise awareness of the long-lasting conflict.
The conference was the initiative of Elkhan Suleymanov, the Head of the Azerbaijani
delegation to EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly, who brought a
delegation comprising of seven MPs, three of them representing the
opposition in Azerbaijan.
Welcoming the Azerbaijani delegation, the President of the
Commission of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Senate,
Alejandro Munoz-Alonso, said that
Azerbaijan was a vital part of the
European Union's Neighbourhood Policy and reiterated the EU's
commitment to deepen economic and political integration with
Azerbaijan, while anchoring the
country further to EU values.
During a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Garcia Margallo and the Vice-President of
the Spanish Senate, Juan Jose Lucas,
on the sidelines of the conference, Suleymanov extended an
invitation for them to visit Azerbaijan, stressing that "Azerbaijan and Spain are both multicultural countries, which
are situated in regions of great geo-political significance."
The Azerbaijani MP further added that the level of relations
could be enhanced not only in trade and energy cooperation but also
in other areas, such as agriculture and tourism. Referring to
Azerbaijan's long parliamentary
tradition - despite the rupture during the Soviet era - Suleymanov
said that both countries could benefit from one another's
experience in civil society development.
The conference, which was hosted by Spanish Senator Jose Maria Chiquillo, brought together over 180
distinguished participants including 80 senators and their deputies
as well as prominent academics, business people and NGO
representatives.
In his keynote address, Suleymanov pointed out that the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict inflicted material damage in excess of
431 billion dollars on Azerbaijan and decried the fact that none of
the resolutions adopted by the United Nations, European Parliament,
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), OSCE and other international
organisations calling for the settlement of the conflict within the
principles of territorial integrity, have been fulfilled.
The conference witnessed a lively debate on legal considerations
of UN resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh, which were further discussed
by Senator Jose Maria Chiquillo and
the Azerbaijani Vice-Prime Minister and Chairman of the State
Committee dealing with refugees and internally displaced persons
(IDP), Ali Hasanov.
"There are serious concerns in Azerbaijani society about the
indifference of the international community, especially the passive
attitude of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe," said Suleymanov, arguing that
discriminatory policies and double standards were applied by PACE
which, for instance, has remained silent about the Armenian boycott
of the Subcommittee on Nagorno-Karabakh since 2005. He also drew
attention to the Monitoring Committee report of the Council of
Europe on Azerbaijan under preparation and said that the
rapporteur "should demand the restoration of rights of hundreds of
thousands of Azerbaijani IDPs for more than 20 years and the use of
sanctions against Armenia."
Mexican parliamentarian and Member of the Foreign Affairs
Commission, Jesus Ramirez Renge,
explained that a resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh was recently
adopted in the Mexican parliament, condemning the occupation of
Azerbaijani territory by Armenia
and the genocide committed by Armenian armed forces in the
Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. It also called on Armenia to implement UN Security Council
resolutions, to withdraw Armenian troops from occupied territories
and to stop the violence against the civilian population in
Azerbaijan, while stressing the
existence of a million refugees and internally displaced persons in
Azerbaijan.