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• Azay Guliyev: My response to baseless allegations on so called “ethnic cleansing” in Garabagh region of Azerbaijan

  Azay Guliyev: My response to baseless allegations on so called “ethnic cleansing” in Garabagh region of Azerbaijan.

  As it is well known, Azerbaijan had suffered for 30 year-long occupation of its 1\5 sovereign territories by Armenia, people of Azerbaijan had been subjected to genocide (in 1992, Khojaly), ethnic cleansing (800K Azerbaijanis had been forcibly expelled from Nagorno Karabakh and 7 surrounding districts in 1992-1993), 8 cities and hundreds of villages leveled to ground. Despite 4 relevant UN Security Consul resolutions demanding the complete and unconditional withdraw of Armenian occupying forces from Azerbaijan, no action had been taken to this end neither by Armenia nor by international organizations or individual countries.
  On September 27, 2020 Azerbaijan started to liberate its territories and eventually forced Armenia to sign Trilateral Statement on 10 November 2020 resulting in restoration of its territorial integrity. Along with other commitments, Armenia undertook an obligation to windthrow its 10K strong military formation from Garabagh and reopen all communications with Azerbaijan under this Statement. As usual, Armenia did not honor its commitments, not only refused to windthrow its illegal armed forces, on contrary, continued rotation and finance its illegal military forces and planting landmines in the area.
  On 19 September 2023 Azerbaijan launched local counter-terrorist measures in response to anti-tank mine explosions recently planted by illegal Armenian armed unites in Garabakh causing the causalities of 5 police and 2 civilians wounding 7 others. it is worse mentioning that the counter-terrorist measures had been conducted in very accurate way and only targeted on legitimate military objects and illegal armed forces of the Republic of Armenia stationed in Azerbaijan. After 23 hours and 51 minutes, namely on 20 September 2023 by 13:00 Azerbaijan successfully completed it and illegal armed formation of the Republic of Armenia agreed on putting down guns and to be disarmed and disbanded. So, Azerbaijan fully restored its sovereignty in all Garabagh region after 31 years of occupation.
  Moreover, puppet regime installed by Armenia in Garabagh also accepted its dissolving and long pending proposal of official Baku to hold a meeting in Yevlakh city for detailed discussions the reintegration process of Armenian residents into Constitutional order of Azerbaijan.
  For the last 7 days, 3 meetings have been successfully held between representatives of Armenian residents and central authority which significantly contributed to resolution of humanitarian and health care issues of local population by Azerbaijani government. On 21 September 2023 Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan has made a public statement and officially pledged to guaranty safety, security, and wellbeing of Armenian residents of Garabagh region of Azerbaijan under its Constitution.
  Now, a few words about those Armenians leaving Garabagh and so called “ethnic cleansing” claims.
  First and foremost, it must be understood that no one, be it Azerbaijani authority or its representatives have been forcing Armenians in Garbagh to leave the region. On contrary, as I mentioned earlier, we consistently made a call for safe and dignified reintegration of Armenian residents and Azerbaijan is not/cannot /will not be interesting in massive departure of its potential citizens from the area, particularly, after restoring its sovereignty all over the region.
  According to my observation and conducted interviews by media, those Armenians who leave Garabakh should be divided into three categories:
  The first category of people is the one who still lives with the ideology of separatism and “miatsum” (unification) with Armenia categorically rejecting the sovereignty and constitutional order of Azerbaijan in Garabakh. Under such circumstances they had to decide where to live and nobody can prevent them from making an appropriate decision in this regard.
  The second category of people leaving our territories is the one who has a citizenship of Russian Federation and other foreign countries. It is known that, legislation in Azerbaijan does not allow a dual citizenship and these categories of people should make a choice on which passport do they prefer?
  The third category of people are those who temporarily leave Garabagh unless situation is fully normalized and all reintegration tools and mechanisms are enough clear. I do believe that this type of people is in majority and they will be returned as soon as they realized a real difference made by the government of Azerbaijan on the ground.
  Having analyzed all situation in good faith, nobody can claim that there is an intention by Azerbaijan to pursue an ethnic cleansing policy towards Armenians from Garabagh. Such accusations are simply null and void. We resolutely reject such groundless accusations made by Armenian government in close orchestration of some international media such as CNN, BBC, DW, NBS and others.
  No serious man in the world can believe in such manipulation and propaganda on “ethnic cleansing” when Azerbaijan renders all kind of supports to Armenians in Garabakh and tirelessly working to ensure their safety and dignified reintegration into our society.
  In conclusion, I would recommend those who want to be sure how ethnic cleansing is being done, just to look at the very fact that up to one million expelled Azerbaijanis subjected to real ethnic cleansing 3 decades ago are still waiting for fully de-mining all liberated territories and reconstruction of their ruined cities, villages to make them able to return back to their homes.

  By Azay Guliyev (Azerbaijan) was elected Chair at the 2022 Annual Session in Birmingham.

  He previously served as Vice-President and as Vice-Chair of the General Committee on Political Affairs and Security. He furthermore served as OSCE PA Special Representative on South East Europe from August 2021 until July 2022. 

  A member of his national parliament since 2005, Dr. Guliyev currently serves on the Permanent Committee on State Building and Legislative Policy and is the author of the law on “Voluntary Act” and the law on “Civic Participation” of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He also heads the Azerbaijan-Romania Inter-parliamentary Working Group and is a member of several other working groups promoting Azerbaijan's bilateral relations with various countries. Since 2008, he has also served as Head of the Council on State Support to NGOs.

  Guliyev has been a member of Azerbaijan's OSCE PA Delegation since 2005 and has participated in election observation missions to Belarus, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, the United Kingdom and Ukraine. Since assuming the position of the Vice President of the OSCE PA, Guliyev has served as the Head of the OSCE PA Election Observation Mission to Montenegro and the fortmer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and as Special Co-ordinator of the short-term OSCE observer mission to Kyrgyzstan.

• Azerbaijan launches localised anti-terrorist operation in Karabakh

  Baku/19.09.23/Turan: The Azerbaijani armed forces launched an anti-terrorist operation in Karabakh on 19 September, the Defence Ministry said at noon.

  Systematic shelling, mining of territories, strengthening of combat positions, growth in the number of trenches and dugouts by the Armenian armed forces in Karabakh has caused increased tensions, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

  There is observed strengthening of combat positions with personnel, armoured vehicles, artillery and other firepower, bringing units to a high level of combat readiness, creation of additional mobilisation units, expansion of reconnaissance activities, penetration deep into the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces to repeatedly mine cleared territories and civilian roads for sabotage and terrorist purposes, the statement said. 

  On 19 September in Karabakh, 6 people, including four policemen, were killed as a result of mines planted by Armenian saboteurs.

  Local anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region "in order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement of November 2020, the suppression of large-scale provocations in the Karabakh Economic region, the disarmament and withdrawal of the armed forces of Armenia from our territories, the neutralization of their military infrastructure, ensuring the safety of civilians who have returned to the territories liberated from occupation and civil servants involved in the construction and restoration work and our military, as well as the restoration of the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan".

  Within the framework of the measures mentioned above, positions of the Armenian armed forces formations, their long-term firing points, as well as military means and military facilities are put out of action using high-precision weapons in the front line and in depth.

  We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure are not targets, only legitimate military targets are taken out of action.

  The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Centre have been informed about the activities," the statement said.

  Within the framework of the measures, positions of the Armenian armed forces formations, their long-term firing points, as well as military means and military facilities are put out of action using high-precision weapons in the front line and in depth.

  We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure are not targets, only legitimate military targets are taken out of action.

  The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Centre have been informed about the activities," the statement said.

• ISSUES OF INTERACTION BETWEEN THE CASPIAN STATES WERE DISCUSSED IN ASHGABAT

  On September 11-13, 2023, the sixth meeting of the High-Level Working Group on Caspian Sea Issues was held in the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

  The meeting was attended by delegations from five Caspian states - Turkmenistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.

  During the meeting, the participants discussed a number of topical issues on the agenda on the Caspian issue, in particular, draft agreements were discussed.

  An exchange of views also took place on preparations for the next meeting of the foreign ministers of the Caspian states.

  The parties agreed to hold the next meeting of the Working Group in Azerbaijan.

  Following the event, a Communiqué was adopted.

• Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili meets Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

  Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili met today in Baku with Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

  At the face-to-face meeting, the parties discussed the productive cooperation between the two countries across a variety of areas, also issues pertaining to regional security.

  The conversation focused on the seminal Black Sea submarine electricity cable project connecting the Caucasus Region and Europe. Irakli Garibashvili and Ilham Aliyev discussed the dynamic of the project’s implementation and relevant plans for the future.

  The key directions of the intensive trade and economic cooperation between Georgia and the Republic of Azerbaijan were also discussed.

  Irakli Garibashvili and Ilham Aliyev spoke about the regional and global security environment and challenges. The importance of peace and stability in the region for ensuring economic development was underlined. Irakli Garibashvili assured Ilham Aliyev of Georgia’s commitment to continuing its contribution toward ensuring peace and stability in the region.

  Press Service of the Government Administration
• Georgia: EBRD to help improve solid waste management in Kobuleti and Batumi

  The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is committing new funds to address solid waste treatment issues in Batumi and the wider Adjara region in Georgia. A sovereign loan of up to €19 million for Adjara Waste Management Company will help tackle some of the most pressing environmental challenges faced by the tourist region’s inhabitants and visitors. 

  The first committed tranche of up to €3 million will be used to purchase new solid waste management equipment. This will enable the borrower to start new landfill operations and, consequently, stop waste being disposed of at the current non-European Union (EU) compliant dumpsites. The second uncommitted tranche of up to €16 million will be used to build a new waste treatment plant, allowing the company to recover recyclables and divert waste sent to the new sanitary landfill. 

  The investment will address the priority needs of Batumi and the wider Adjara region. This includes stopping the disposal of waste at existing dumpsites in Kobuleti and Batumi, with the latter being the largest and most dangerous polluter in Georgia. “These dumpsites are active sources of land, water and air pollution, impacting the ecosystem of the region in particular, and the Black Sea in general,” says EBRD. 

  Find out more

  Press release