Co-Chair of EU-Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee stressed importance of return of Armenian POWs

A press conference was held today by the Co-Chairs of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee Arman Eghoyan and Marina Kaljurand.

In her speech, Kaljurand stressed that she sees Armenia's reforms and achievements on the path of democracy. In this regard, according to her, Armenia is one of the leaders in the region.

Kaljurand informed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was discussed at the committee meeting.

"I said that war is never a solution, regardless of what Azerbaijan says unilaterally. The solution should be the result of negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

We also stressed the importance of the return of POWs and other detainees from Baku. We will continue repeating this until the last Armenian citizen returns to Armenia," Kaljurand said.

On the Second Meeting of Armenia-EU Parliamentary Partnership Committee (PPC), Hakob Arshakyan, acting NA president, gave a speech talking about the situation after 44-day war.

"The events of the previous year have created new reality in our region and outside it. The grave consequences of the 44-day war of September 2020 unleashed by Azerbaijan and Turkey against Nagorno Karabakh have become irreversible for us. Today, we face security challenges. The peace of the region is endangered and the stability is fragile. The penetration of the Azerbaijani armed forces to the sovereign territory of Armenia is a more dangerous development. The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is tense from May 12, 2021. The encroachments against the Republic of Armenia resulted in human losses and seriously endangered the regional security.

Armenia strictly condemns the military actions by Azerbaijan, which damages the regional peace and security.

In this respect I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the European Parliament for showing position of principle after 44-day war. I would like to especially touch upon the resolution adopted by the overwhelming majority of the votes in the European Parliament on the return of Armenian prisoners of war, and with this the European Parliament demands the urgent and unreserved release of all arrested Armenians captives, the military and the civilians during the conflict and after it," Arshakyan said.

Aliyev has announced the possibility of creating a trilateral format of Azerbaijan-Russia-Turkey cooperation

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has announced the possibility of creating a trilateral format of Azerbaijan-Russia-Turkey cooperation. 

"What was signed yesterday (February 22 - ed.), in fact, if positioned from our point of view, is a historic achievement (signing of the declaration on allied cooperation with Russia - ed.), because Azerbaijan has allied relations with two powerful countries, two neighbors. This is, in fact, an achievement. And it's no secret that a trilateral format of cooperation is already being formed," Aliyev said at a meeting with the heads of leading Russian media.

Aliyev noted that the format of trilateral cooperation has not yet been formulated, meetings at the level of foreign ministers and presidents have not yet been held, but it’s in the process of being formed.

Special Representatives of Armenia and Turkey met in Vienna

Special Representatives for the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey, respectively, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ruben Rubinyan and Ambassador Serdar Kılıç held a meeting today (February 24) in Vienna, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia reports.

The Special Representatives confirmed that the ultimate goal of the negotiations is to achieve full normalization between Armenia and Turkey, as agreed during their first meeting in Moscow.

They exchanged views on possible concrete steps that can be mutually undertaken to that end and reiterated their agreement to continue the process without preconditions.

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• The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is relatively stable. RA MoD

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