Nalbandian warns against politicizing BSEC

By Asbarez | Friday, 01 July 2016

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian speaks at the BSEC summit in Sochi

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian speaks at the BSEC summit in Sochi

SOCHI, Russia—Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Friday warned his colleagues in the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) against politicizing the generally regional economic group with a stern warning to Azerbaijan.

“We should not allow the politicization of the BSEC, its transformation into a platform for political confrontation. Unfortunately, today we witnessed the attempts of the Azerbaijani delegation to politicize the Plenary Session for their narrow-minded propagandistic goals,” said Nalbandian in reference to remarks by the Baku delegation accusing Armenia of aggression.

“In regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, I would like to remind, that the Vienna and St. Petersburg Summits first and foremost were aimed to stabilize the situation in the conflict zone in the aftermaths of large-scale military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in April. First of all, it is a necessity to implement what was particularly emphasized and agreed upon in the frameworks of the Summits in order to create conditions for the continuation of the negotiation process; i.e. the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict, the unconditional adherence to the 1994-1995 trilateral ceasefire agreements, which have no time limitations, the creation of mechanism for the investigation of ceasefire violations, the expansion of the team of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office,” said Nalbandian.

The meeting of the BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers kicked off in Sochi on Friday to discuss the issues of trade and economic, energy and transport cooperation.

Nalbandian evaluated Armenia’s role in the activities of the group, saying that Armenia stands for the enhancement of BSEC’s role in the international arena, and the expansion of cooperation with other international, regional organizations to strengthen relations with regional partners.

Nalbandian emphasized that such cooperation should develop in accordance with the BSEC Charter and other fundamental documents.

At the end of the session Russia handed over the BSEC Chairmanship to Serbia.

The BSEC is an international economic organization of 12 countries from the wider Black Sea area (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine). Established in 1992, the BSEC is an inter-governmental organization created with the aim to foster interaction and harmony among its member states, as well as to ensure peace, stability and prosperity encouraging friendly and good-neighborly relations in the Black Sea region.


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