Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, within his visit to New York, the Foreign Ministry told APA.
At the meeting the minister conveyed sincere greetings of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev to António Guterres. Recalling with pleasure his meetings with President Ilham Aliyev, Guterres asked Mammadyarov to extend his greetings and best wishes to the head of state. The UN Secretary-General congratulated the minister on the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
Guterres highly appreciated the cooperation between the UN and Azerbaijan, particularly highlighted the support and contribution of Azerbaijan for the Sustainable Development Goals and the promotion of intercultural dialogue, and its initiatives, including the Baku Process.
Minister Mammadyarov noted that Azerbaijan highly appreciates support of the UN and its specialized institutions to Azerbaijan since the beginning of its independence, in particular provided humanitarian aid and assistance for the internally displaced persons resulting from the aggression of Armenia.
Highlighting the economic and social reforms in our country, the development of the non-oil sector, the large-scale and trans-regional transport and energy projects implemented with the initiative and direct involvement of Azerbaijan, as well as, East-West, North-South, South-West routes and the Southern Gas Project, the Azerbaijani FM briefed on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals at the national level.
He noted that Azerbaijan supports Secretary‑General's reform efforts of the UN system and the growing role of the United Nations in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and stressed the importance to fulfil commitments enshrined in the UN Charter by all member-states.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Mammadyarov noted that Armenia used force against Azerbaijan and continues to occupy its territories by violating international law. He stressed that the conflict poses a serious threat to regional peace and comprehensive development of the region. He emphasized the importance of increasing international efforts to ensure the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the return of Azerbaijani IDPs to their homelands, stressing that the relevant resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council are the basis for the resolution of the conflict.
The minister also noted that Azerbaijan highly appreciates the UN Secretary-General's statements on a regular basis to support for substantive talks on the settlement of the conflict.
During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the issues of mutual interest and the UN agenda.
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