Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

The delegation led by French ambassador Zacharie Gross has visited Azerbaijan's liberated Aghdam region on November 22.

On his official Twitter account, the Azerbaijani president's special representative in Aghdam, Emin Huseynov, said that the delegation was accompanied by him during the visit.

As part of the visit, the guests were shown the destroyed monuments and were informed in detail about the city's reconstruction plan, Huseynov tweeted.

"Thankful to Emin Huseynov, special representative of the Presidential Administration, for presenting to me today his vision of the future of Aghdam. International cooperation will be key for reconstruction," the ambassador wrote on his Twitter page.

Earlier, the ambassador noted that France is keen to donate € 400,000 (AZN 803,272 or $472,752) to support mine clearance operations in liberated lands.

"Another area where international cooperation is needed is demining so internally displaced people can return to their land. The areas in Karabakh that require de-mining are huge. So I was happy to officially inform Azerbaijan's ANAMA [Mine Action Agency] that France is keen to donate € 400,000 to demining this year," Gross wrote on his Twitter account in early September.

In the near future, a document is envisaged to be signed covering areas such as support for demining operations, assistance to persons who suffered from mines, and the implementation of projects to raise awareness of dangers from explosives.

It is worth noting that during the Second Karabakh War, French President Emmanuel Macron and some French circles failed to demonstrate a neutral position, despite the fact that France is a co-chair in the OSCE Minsk Group mediating talks between Baku and Yerevan.

In contradiction to the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, only the interests of Armenia were protected and an inadequate position, which did not meet the requirements of a balanced and fair co-chairmanship, was displayed. This stance was several times criticized by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and some other senior officials.

As a result of Armenian aggression and occupation of Azerbaijani lands for almost three decades, all cities, including hundreds of settlements, houses, public and private property, numerous infrastructure facilities were completely destroyed. Everything on these territories was destroyed not during the war, but during the occupation period. At the same time, Armenia deliberately and constantly planted mines on Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security and cooperation.

Currently, the work is underway to restore Azerbaijan’s liberated territories.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered peace agreement on November 10, 2020, to end 44 days of fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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