POLITICS
Azerbaijan`s Deputy FM meets UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Baku, May 5 AZERTAC
Azerbaijan`s Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov has met UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein in Geneva.
The sides exchanged views on the current state and future prospects of relations between Azerbaijan and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Khalafov said Azerbaijan supported OHCHR efforts to protect human rights worldwide, adding that Azerbaijan attached great importance to cooperating with all the mechanisms of the UN human rights system.
Mr. Khalafov said the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is an obstacle to full provision of human rights in the country. He noted that the Armenian military aggression resulted in the occupation of 20 percent Azerbaijani territory and more than a million Azerbaijanis becoming refugees and IDPs. The deputy minister said in April Armenian armed forces have been shelling densely populated Azerbaijani residential areas along the contact line of troops, using heavy artillery and large-caliber weapons, killing and wounding a number of Azerbaijani civilians, destroying a large number of buildings, schools and other social facilities.
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein praised the current level of Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the UN human rights system, including the OHCHR. The Commissioner said he was concerned about military clashes that took place on the contact line of troops.