Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has hailed the Baku meeting of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States as a sign of support and solidarity, Azertag reported on November 3.

The president made the remarks at a meeting with a delegation led by the secretary-general of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States, Baghdad Amreyev.

“Given that Azerbaijan is currently waging a patriotic war, this meeting is of particular importance. We take this as a sign of support and solidarity, so thank you for that. This is an extraordinary meeting, and its main purpose is to provide moral support to our country,” Aliyev said at the meeting.

The president spoke about the support expressed by Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan and some other countries to Azerbaijan from the first days of the war.

“I am glad that the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States has supported us and made a very important statement. This is a manifestation of unity and solidarity among the Turkic-speaking countries,” Aliyev said.

Global support

He also underlined great support Azerbaijan had received on a global scale.

“The Non-Aligned Movement is the second biggest international organization after the United Nations, uniting 120 countries. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has also supported us. This, of course, shows once again that ours is a cause of truth, we are restoring our territorial integrity, waging war on our own territory. At the same time, it is a sign of the attitude of the countries of these organizations to Azerbaijan,” the president added.

Aliyev focused on the desecration of mosques on occupied territories.

“This has angered the entire Muslim world. This shows again that the Armenian state hates the entire Muslim world, otherwise such base actions would not have taken place. Of course, the whole Muslim world can see yet again what kind of savage enemy we are facing,” he added.

Aliyev briefed the guests about Azerbaijan’s casualties.

“According to the information I was given this morning, more than 200 shells were fired at our cities and villages from 6 am – it is five minutes to 9 now. During this month, 91 civilians have been killed, 10 of them are children, 404 civilians have been injured and more than 2,000 houses have been destroyed. Armenia uses banned weapons to kill as many people as possible. Our revenge takes place on the battlefield,” he said.

The president also mentioned Armenia’s gross humanitarian ceasefire violations and ensuing casualties of missile attacks in the cities of Ganca and Barda.

“No-one can stand in front of us and no-one can reverse us from this path,” he said.

Political solution possible

Meanwhile, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan was ready to move the military solution to a political one if Armenia makes a concrete commitment to withdraw troops from occupied lands.

“We believe that a military solution to the conflict must move on to a political plane, and we are ready for that. I do hope that Armenia’s bitter defeat will force them to think very seriously and make this decision,” he said.

Speaking about Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s latest letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin where he asked for military assistance, Aliyev described the case as completely unacceptable.

“There is no basis for that. We are crushing and driving the enemy out of our lands. We have not invaded Armenia. This is the first. Second, Russia is a co-chair of the Minsk Group and, like all co-chairs, it must be neutral, as required by the mandate of a co-chair given to it by the OSCE. Pashinyan's sending this letter is, in fact, a confession. He admits that Armenia has lost. I think that this acknowledgement must be seriously analyzed in Armenian society and the Armenian leadership must be put under serious pressure to stop this war, the occupiers to leave our lands and ensure peace in the region,” the president said.

Turkic world shows solidarity with Azerbaijan

In turn, the secretary-general of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States, Baghdad Amreyev, said the Turkic Council and the Turkic world stood by Azerbaijan from the first day of the war.

“This time we have come to Baku to convey the voice of brotherly Azerbaijan to the whole world...From the first days of Armenia's attacks on Azerbaijan, we, as the Turkic Council and the Turkic world, have stood by brotherly Azerbaijan,” Amreyev said.

He later added: “I expressed my opinion on the legal right of the Turkic world and the Turkic Council to take back the occupied lands of Azerbaijan without any preconditions. We say that the conflict must be resolved only on the basis of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan recognized by the international community.”

Amreyev said the delegation was visiting Azerbaijan to once again express solidarity with Azerbaijan.

“At today's event - the meeting of the heads of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Turkic-Speaking countries, we will once again express our solidarity. We will once again declare our support for Azerbaijan. We held a meeting of the Turkic Council and the Ministers of Health of the Turkic world with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul yesterday. At this event, we once again expressed our full and comprehensive support for brotherly Azerbaijan,” he said.

Meeting with Bayramov

Meanwhile, the delegation members voiced similar views at a meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on Novmber 2.

Expressing gratitude for the unequivocal support of the Turkic Council for Azerbaijan's position so far, the minister noted that Secretary-General Amreyev's visit to Ganja city was of special importance in terms of getting acquainted with the war crimes committed by Armenia against the civilian population and of high moral significance.

New era of Azerbaijan’s socio-economic progress

Noting the importance of the "New Era of Social and Economic Development of Azerbaijan" event organized by the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Baku, the minister said that restoration work would be carried out in all liberated lands of Azerbaijan and in this regard, all efforts would be made by the state.

Amreyev reaffirmed the importance of the event in Baku, noting that such events support the implementation of relevant projects in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan and thus the restoration of normal life in these areas.

The sides also exchanged views on preparations for the upcoming summit of the Turkic Council, as well as other issues on the agenda of the organization.

On November 1, Bayramov met his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

During the meeting, the ministers exchanged views on the latest situation in the region in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The ministers stressed the importance of ending the occupation of Azerbaijani territories in accordance with the requirements of the UN Security Council resolutions to ensure sustainable peace in the region.

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