Baku, October 1, AZERTAC

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has held a number of meetings on the sidelines of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

At a meeting with Paraguay's Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga, the ministers noted that there were good opportunities for developing cooperation in various fields between Azerbaijan and Paraguay, and stressed the importance of organizing reciprocal visits, as well as holding political consultations between the two countries' foreign ministries.

The sides exchanged views over the regional and international issues, as well as landlocked developing countries format, Paraguay's activities in MERCOSUR, Azerbaijan's relations with Latin American countries and Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

Highlighting the current state of the conflict and Armenia's non-constructive position in the negotiation process, Elmar Mammadyarov stressed the importance of the statement adopted by the Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Paraguay on September 10, 2015.

Mammadyarov invited his Paraguayan counterpart to pay a visit to Azerbaijan. Expressing his gratitude for the invitation, the Paraguayan FM in his turn also invited his Azerbaijani counterpart to his country.

Following the meeting, the two ministers signed the Memorandum of Understanding on political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Paraguay.

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Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov met with Nikola Poposki, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Macedonia.

The sides expressed their satisfaction with the development of political dialogue between the two countries.

FM Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the development of relations with Balkan countries.

The sides underlined favorable opportunities for developing cooperation in energy, tourism, agricultural and humanitarian spheres between the two countries. They also stressed the importance of cooperation and mutual support between the two countries within the UN and other international organizations.

Giving a brief information about the realization of the South Gas Corridor, Shahdeniz II project and the construction of TAP and TANAP projects, Minister Mammadyarov underlined that within these projects new job and investment opportunities will be opened in the countries from where the pipeline will run, regional cooperation will develop as well as gas supplies will be ensured through diversified source.

The sides also exchanged views on regional issues of mutual interest.

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Minister Elmar Mammadyarov also met with Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Iyad bin Amin Madani.

Hailing Azerbaijan's active role as a member of the OIC, the Secretary General praised the country's contribution to the realization of the Organization`s goals.

The Secretary General mentioned that raising of Palestinian flag at the UN Headquarters on 30 September will be a milestone event for the OIC members. He stressed the importance of participation of all OIC member states in the flag raising ceremony.

Mammadyarov stressed that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to relations with the OIC, adding the OIC created favorable environment for further development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the member states.

He underlined the importance of the Coordination Meeting of the Foreign Ministers and other specialized meetings of the OIC on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session. Minister Mammadyarov touched upon the importance of solidarity within Islamic Ummah and said that the OIC is an essential mechanism for the discussion and finding solution of problems inherent to the Islamic world.

FM Mammadyarov expressed his high appreciation for the position of OIC on the condemnation of Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan in strongest terms and the support for the settlement of the conflict on the basis of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders.

Minister Mammadyarov expressed his concern over the growing trend of Islamophobia and stressed the importance of combating against these issues in joint efforts. Moreover, he noted that as a result of conflicts in the Middle East, a large number of Muslim population forced to flee their countries and emphasized the necessity of paying more attention to these problems.

The sides also exchanged views over the key priorities of the OIC and other issues of mutual interest.

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FM Mammadyarov met with Mustafa Akinci, the Head of Turkish Community of Cyprus.

They exchanged views over the issues of mutual interest.

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The Azerbaijani FM also met Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.

Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stressed that certain circles in European Parliament pursue the goal of inflicting damage to the relations of Azerbaijan with the European Union by adoption of groundless and absurd resolution on Azerbaijan. He underlined that this resolution is a sign of biased attitude and unacceptable.

Johannes Hahn emphasized that European Union is interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan and even willing to expand its collaboration in some fields .

He expressed his hope that for the sake of mutually beneficial cooperation the contacts will be resumed in the near future.