Josep Borrell
Brussels/22.07.20/Turan: On Wednesday 22 July, EU High Representative/Vice-President, Josep Borrell, held a three-way phone call with Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Armenian Foreign Minister, and Jeyhun Bayramov, the newly-appointed Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs, to discuss the recent armed confrontations along the international state border between the two countries. This was the first such call that brought together the High Representative/Vice-President and the two Foreign Ministers simultaneously, following the separate telephone call that took place on 13 July.
The High Representative/Vice-President conveyed his condolences to the families of those killed and wished a speedy recovery to those who were injured.
During their discussions, Josep Borrell urged both sides to stop the armed confrontation and to refrain from action and rhetoric that provoke tension, in particular from any further threats to critical infrastructure in the region. He stressed that all regional actors should contribute to this peaceful goal.
The High Representative/Vice-President encouraged both sides to reaffirm their commitment to a ceasefire and undertake immediate measures to prevent further escalation. In this context, Armenia and Azerbaijan should make use of their mechanism for direct communication, the established format led by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, as well as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. He also stressed the need for meaningful re-engagement in substantive negotiations on the key aspects of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement under the auspices of the Co-Chairs; both ministers concurred on this. He also highlighted the urgency of resuming the OSCE monitoring on the ground, as soon as conditions allow.
The High Representative/Vice-President stressed his readiness to remain engaged with the two parties and tasked the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia to continue to remain in close contact with the two sides and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.
Politics
-
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Moscow on January 17 and make statements for the press, according to the Kremlin's press service.
-
On January 13, the trial in the case of public activist Nijat Ibrahim continued in the Baku Serious Crimes Court under the chairmanship of Judge Aygun Gurbanova. The trial was suspended after Ibrahim, in protest against the illegal arrest, began banging his head against the "aquarium cage", trying to commit suicide. At the beginning of the trial, he stated that he had been illegally detained for 4 months, and because of this, his family in Moldova was in a difficult situation, Turan announced this on its Twitter.
-
The International Committee of Concerned Scholars (ICS) has appealed to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, requesting his assistance in securing the release of the arrested researcher, Igbal Abilov. The ICS expressed concern that Abilov's arrest "may be related to his research on ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan, conducted in collaboration with scholars from Armenia."
-
Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maka Botchorishvili, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Georgia, Faig Guliyev.
Rəy yaz