Baku, April 12, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Bujar Osmani.

The head of state recalled his contacts with the President and Prime Minister of North Macedonia during international events.

Expressing his gratitude for the reception, Bujar Osmani briefed the President of Azerbaijan on North Macedonia`s priorities as the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. He noted that as part of the chairpersonship of North Macedonia, he took the “It’s About People” motto as the basis and worked towards the implementation of the people-centered policy in the process of the chairmanship. Recalling the OSCE`s support for North Macedonia as a member state, Bujar Osmani said that his country is currently trying to contribute to the solution of the issues on the agenda of this organization. In this regard, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office underlined that he acts from the “One Society for All” concept in the domestic policy in North Macedonia, and highlighted the projects implemented towards ensuring reconciliation in post-conflict conditions within the country and in the region. He pointed out that his country is ready to share the experience gained in this regard with the South Caucasus region.

The President of Azerbaijan stressed that the concept of ethnic reconciliation of North Macedonia and the Balkan region in general, the experience of reintegration and creation of inclusive society may be interesting for the South Caucasus as well. The head of state recalled Azerbaijan`s proposal to hold a meeting of the three South Caucasian countries.

President Ilham Aliyev informed the OSCE Chairman-in-Office about two-track peace process currently going on between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In this respect, the head of state said Azerbaijan had put forward proposals to arrange meetings in Baku to establish direct contacts with the Armenian residents of the Karabakh economic region, adding the country appointed a special representative to this end, and that they had been invited to Baku for discussing both reintegration and various infrastructure projects. At the same time, President Ilham Aliyev also let Bujar Osmani know about the ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan talks towards peace treaty and normalization of relations on a bilateral basis.

The head of state mentioned the incident, which took place yesterday on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, saying this is the provocation committed purposefully by Armenia.

Bujar Osmani noted that the OSCE might contribute to humanitarian demining in Azerbaijan as well as green port and other practical projects.

President Ilham Aliyev pointed out that Azerbaijan regards the cooperation with the OSCE from the practical perspective. In this respect, the head of state said there is a possibility of looking into the capabilities for cooperation on transboundary rivers, implementation of practical and pragmatic cooperation projects concerning such concepts as humanitarian demining, green ports and Middle Corridor. The meeting also saw discussions on transport, energy and other issues regarding the Azerbaijan-North Macedonia bilateral cooperation.