As a Muslim country, Azerbaijan has managed to ensure its own sustainable development over the last 25 years under the conditions of stability, Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration’s foreign relations department, said March 11.
He made the remarks during the panel on ‘Migration, multiculturalism and the issue of integration’ held as part of the 4th Global Baku Forum.
Unfortunately, the world hasn’t been stable in the last 25 years, said the top official, adding that today, the world has turned into a place of conflicts.
Mammadov pointed out that the first conflict in 1990s was the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“If at the time, the world had a fair attitude to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it wouldn’t face so many conflicts today,” he added.
He said that after the liquidation of the Warsaw Pact in the 1990s, the world entered a new stage.
“Indeed, the message of the EU, European countries and the West to the world was like that: from now on, we will live in stability, security and achieve sustainable development,” Mammadov said. “Yesterday, on March 10, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, while speaking in detail about the way Azerbaijan had passed throughout 25 years, informed on this issue, noted the progress achieved by Azerbaijan.”
“The main point of this speech is that no matter how complicated the world is, we can achieve successful results if we make an effort,” said Mammadov.
Following the 1990s, all countries with great enthusiasm embraced a new situation in the world, Mammadov said, adding that everyone thought that there would be a fair approach to international and intergovernmental relations.
“But bringing forth the example of Azerbaijan, I would like to say something,” he said. “For some reason, it is very difficult, and sometimes too hard to see it today. I regret that the issue of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was not recommended to be included in this forum. If one talks about the problems existing in the world, considers it important to solve them, then the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict became the first conflict that emerged after the liquidation of the Warsaw Pact.”
If this conflict hadn’t been treated with such neglect and had Europe, along with the West, demonstrated a fair approach at that time and appealed to international law, if this conflict had been resolved, then perhaps there wouldn’t have been many conflicts in the world today, Mammadov said.
“For what reason do today’s conflicts occur in the world?” he said. “That’s because we are a small country. There are over a hundred of such countries that expect a fair treatment from the leading countries of the world. But in most cases we don’t see it.”
“As much as 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories are under occupation,” Mammadov said, adding that one part of them is Nagorno-Karabakh. “Seven surrounding districts are also occupied, but Armenia has no claims on them. These are Azerbaijani lands. But today, no one wants to talk about this anywhere. How can we build a fair world then?”
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