Azerbaijan urges Armenia to abandon aggressive policies
By Jamila Babayeva
Azerbaijan has urged Armenia to abandon its aggressive policies towards regional players.
Azerbaijan's Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of State Committee on Deals of Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov said the time has come for Armenia to change its foreign policy and play its regional role.
"One of the main part of Azerbaijan president's foreign policy is cooperation with the neighboring countries like Iran, Turkey, Russia and Georgia. Armenia is Azerbaijan's enemy. At the same time it is our neighbor and we cannot change this reality," he said.
"Azerbaijan has friendly relations with Turkey, Russia, Georgia and Iran. Now it is Armenia's turn. Armenia has to abandon its occupation policy and join the neighborhood."
Hasanov added that the Armenian people are waiting for settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict so that their position can be changed.
"But the Armenian government unlike its people does not understand this point," he said.
He said Armenia gained nothing from occupying Azerbaijani lands.
"For 20 years, Armenia has been harming only itself. The regime in Armenia has not abandoned its occupation policy. They need to address the current conflict," he said.
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.
The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.
Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the US and the OSCE Minsk Group are underway on the basis of a peaceful outline -called Madrid Principle -proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.
Iranian charity to resume its activity in Azerbaijan
Iran's Imam Khomeini Aid Committee is set to resume its work in Azerbaijan.
The committee was the first charity which started its operation in Azerbaijan back in 1993. During its operation, it invested $43 million in various areas in Azerbaijan.
The representative of the committee, Mahmud Seidi said the committee has been involved in different fields like construction, education, health, agriculture and allocated interest-free loan of 2 million manat for creating new jobs and assisting the development of small business in Azerbaijan.
"Nearly 6 million people are involved in the committee's projects. About 500,000 people have been treated in medical centers of the committee receiving at least three medical services," Seidi said at the event dedicated to the completion of the committee's activity.
He noted that the committee reached about 85 percent of its goals in Azerbaijan.
Deputy Head of the Foreign Affairs of the Committee Muhammed Muhammedifar also took the podium and talked about the committee's projects in Azerbaijan. He said that the committee's activities in Azerbaijan was approved by the national leader Heydar Aliyev.
"The committee's activity in Azerbaijan was an expression of friendship and brotherhood between Azerbaijan and Iran, and this friendship and brotherhood will continue," he stressed.
Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of State Committee on Deals of Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov said the committee's activity has temporarily suspended its activity.
"After the liberation of the occupied lands, the committee will be one of the first humanitarian organizations, which will resume its activity in Azerbaijan," Hasanov said.
He added that 80 humanitarian organizations are active in Azerbaijan, but their number is gradually decreasing, as Azerbaijani state has assumed some parts of charity works in recent years.