Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with the French secretary of state for European affairs, Harlem Desir, within the framework of the 22nd OSCE Ministerial Council in Belgrade. The two sides expressed satisfaction with the development of bilateral political economic and cultural relations between Azerbaijan and France.
Mammadyarov stressed the role of the first lady of Azerbaijan, the president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, a goodwill ambassador of ISESCO, Mehriban Aliyeva, in the development of cooperation with France.
The sides also discussed the negotiating process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group.
According to Desir, France, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, is committed to continuing efforts to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, in his turn, noted that Baku welcomes these efforts. He recalled the meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia held in Paris with the participation of the other OSCE Minsk Group co-chair States on the initiative of French President Francois Hollande in November 2014.
He added that instead of taking constructive actions for the discussion of the issues, especially the preparation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Armenia conducted large-scale military drill in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and instigated the Armenian helicopter incident. In addition, he recalled that more than 4000 Azerbaijanis still have the status of missing persons as a result of Armenian aggression.
Mammadyarov and Desir also discussed regional and global issues, Trend reports.
