There was a video linkup between the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic and the European Parliament today. Co-chair of the EU-Milli Majlis Parliamentary Co-operation Committee (PCC) Mrs Marina Kaljurand and the Azerbaijani Co-chairman of the PCC, MP Javanshir Feyziyev took part in the videoconference that was dedicated to the post-hostility situation in the conflict area and the EU-Azerbaijani co-operation prospects.

MP Feyziyev informed the European colleague abundantly of the liberation, in line with the trilateral statement of 9 November, of those provinces that had remained occupied when the hostilities were ended, of the resumption of the Azerbaijani military and state authority activities initiated in those provinces and of the restoration work already afoot in the lands of Garabagh. At the same time, Mr Feyziyev told Mrs Kaljurand of the vandalism and devastation committed in the territories that had been under occupation for the 30 years past.

‘Not a single building had remained intact in the liberated territories of Garabagh. All the residential houses, office buildings, infrastructure installations, educational and culture edifices and even the objects of the cultural and historical heritage had been torn down, destroyed. They had been replaced with the impermeable military fortifications and military towns,’ Mr Feyziyev said.

Responding to her idea of the importance of the Minsk Group negotiations for the peace process going on, Mr Feyziyev told Mrs Kaljurand that the process did go on with the hands-on involvement of the regional states of Russia and Turkey and that the war in the region had been ended once and for all. According to the Azerbaijani MP, Azerbaijan had proposed creation of a hexalateral co-operation platform that would embrace all the regional states including Armenia. The Azerbaijani side does hope that Armenia will put an end to animosity and contribute to close regional collaboration alongside the other neighbour states. This is firstly in the interest of Armenia itself.

When Mrs Kaljurand enquired after any special status for Highland Garabagh, Mr Feyziyev replied by stressing that there was no such issue on the political agenda of the country anymore. The status issue had been something discussed with the Minsk Group Co-Chairs for 30 years – something that had been viewed as an element of a peaceful settlement. Unfortunately, however, no peace solution was found and so, all the elements considered in the course of those negotiations and discussions have lost whatever edge they might have had.

Mrs Kaljurand and Mr Feyziyev also discussed the COVID-19 pandemic situation and planned to hold an en bloc meeting of the Committee either in Brussels or in Baku early next year the sanitary situation permitting. Besides, the two exchanged opinions about co-operation between the countries of the region and between the EU and the Azerbaijan Republic in the post-conflict period.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis