Azernews.Az

By Trend

Syria supports Azerbaijan’s fair position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said at the 18th Summit of the heads of state and government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Baku on Oct. 26, Trend reports.

Faisal Mekdad added that Syria supports peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

“Terror is a great threat to peace,” the Syrian deputy foreign minister added. “We must stop this disaster, which knows no borders, and to jointly fight terrorism.”

The 18th Summit of the heads of state and government of the NAM member countries continues October 26.

Before the summit, a preparatory meeting of officials of the participating countries was held on October 21-22, while a meeting of the foreign ministers on October 23-24.

The representatives of 158 countries and international organizations participate in the summit. The foreign ministers, heads of state and government and other senior representatives also participate in the event.

Azerbaijan will chair this structure in 2019-2022.

The NAM, uniting the countries that did not join any military-political blocs during the Cold War, was transformed into one of the important multilateral mechanisms. Today, the NAM is the second political platform after the UN, uniting in its ranks the biggest number of countries.

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