Today Azerbaijan hopes that Germany’s chairmanship in the OSCE at the peace talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will help to achieve a breakthrough and allow to liberate the occupied Azerbaijani territories from military, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov said today in the context of his visit to Berlin during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. A ‘Vestnik Kavkaza’ correspondent reported from the scene.
"First of all, I want to say that I am very pleased to be in Berlin again, and thanks for the good weather, which you have prepared for us," Elmar Mammadyarov welcomed the audience.
According to Azerbaijani minister, the agenda of talks between Azerbaijan and Germany is quite broad today. "I think that agenda as was indicated by Mr. Minister for Azerbaijan and Germany is pretty big. And here we are negotiating with Mr. Steinmeier who is a chairman of the OSCE, a German office of the OSCE, and the Foreign Minister. We have a pretty big agenda for the discussions. I think that on the bilateral level we are very proud that Germany-Azerbaijan relations by all means in politics and economics are going very well," he said.
‘‘More than 80% of the trade turnover that Germany has in the South Caucasus is delivered to Azerbaijan. We have very interesting projects, including the Southern Gas Corridor with importance for the European Union as alternative supplies of natural gas from the Caspian region to the European markets through Trans-Anatolian and Trans-Adriatic pipelines. We believe that the role of Germany in the EU is extremely important, as well as its support of this very important global project for the development of the region,’’ Elmar Mammadyarov noticed.
Speaking about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Minister pointed out that ‘‘the existing status quo is not only unacceptable, but also unsustainable, and the escalation of tension at the beginning of April proved this fact. "We know everyone and for the press I have to repeat again that all international organizations, including the United Nations Security Council, got a very clear standing on how to settle the conflict. Its demand, not even a call, is the immediate and unconditional withdraw of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and full respect of territorial integrity and sovereignty and international recognized borders,’’ a ‘Vestnik Kavkaza’ correspondent cites him as saying.
‘‘Now with having Germany as a chairing office of the OSCE, we believe that OSCE through the Minsk Group or with Germany as a member of it is going to redouble or retriple their efforts that we can managed to reach a breakthrough and a military factor will be diminished and soldiers and armies will return back home. It will open a very good opportunity for the development of the whole region for the national interest and for welfare of people who live there,’’ Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov concluded.
