The 4^th joint meeting of the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly committees was held by way of video conferencing on 2 December.

The leader of the Milli Majlis delegation to the GUAM PA Elnur Allahverdiyev and members of his delegation Nasib Mahamaliyev, Ali Masimli, Javid Osmanov and Gudrat Hasanguliyev joined the meeting.

Once the agenda of the meeting had been approved, Mr Allahverdiyev spoke on its second item, entitled ‘The Legal Aspects of Settling the Territorial Conflicts in the GUAM Region’.

We could all eyewitness another active phase of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Highland Garabagh that lasted from 27 September to 10 November and culminated in the complete victory of Azerbaijan, Mr Allahverdiyev said. Armenia had taken upon herself to give back the then still-occupied provinces. The leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia signed a joint statement whereby Armenia had returned to Azerbaijan the Azerbaijani provinces of Agdam,  Kalbajar and Lachin that had been held under occupation and been settled illegally for almost 30 years. Azerbaijan did not demand eviction of the Armenian populace of the provinces that was present there before the conflict but had had no abode registration; neither does Azerbaijan object to them living on in those provinces as its citizens. Right now, it is necessary to make certain that the native Azerbaijani populace return to their lands in pursuance of the already-mentioned trilateral statement. Those people had to leave their heaths and become displaced in their own country due to the Armenian aggression.

Speaking of the resumed hostilities of 27 September this year, Mr Allahverdiyev remarked that the resumption was due to the irresponsibility of the administration of Armenia and their acts contradicting the international laws. The MP recalled that the Armenian provocation against Azerbaijan’s Tovuz Province that had resulted in loss of life and casualties, both military and civilian, had been discussed at a meeting of the GUAM Bureau in July this year. Then, in August this year, an Armenian subversive party was rendered harmless upon infiltrating the Azerbaijani territory. The Armenian raiding unit commander confirmed that Armenia was making serious preparations to capture further territories of Azerbaijan. The Armenian defence minister had declared a new doctrine. At precisely the same time, the government of Armenia had begun to denizen the captured Azerbaijani territories with the Armenians brought from Lebanon and Syria – in callous violation of the Geneva Convention.

Furthermore, Mr Allahverdiyev drew the attention of the meeting participants to that all those facts had fanned the flames of the new combat. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan had restored its territorial integrity having relied on its own resources and in execution of the widely known 4 resolutions of the UN Security Council. Mr Allahverdiyev told the assembled of the several principles that are stipulated in the pertaining international documents and testify to the justness of the position taken by Azerbaijan. Capping his speech, he thanked the colleagues from the GUAM countries for their support to that same just stance of Azerbaijan.

That was followed by exchanges of opinions about such subjects as the territorial conflicts in the GUAM member-states and those conflicts’ political consequences, the prospects and opportunities of furthering trading and economic ties between the states, the advancement of free trade zones within the GUAM region, development of the GUAM countries’ transport corridor and streamlining their logistical communications, customs collaboration and the opportunities of academic, cultural and educational co-operation in the member-states with the state of affairs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic factored in. Relevant decisions were made. Those who took the floor congratulated the Azerbaijani side on the territorial wholeness restoration.

MP Ali Masimli of the Azerbaijani delegation brought up the impact that the pandemic is having on the trade links between the GUAM countries and offered possible economic revival solutions.

The 4^th joint video-conferencing meeting of the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly committees was concluded with consideration of a number of organisational matters.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis