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EU and Azerbaijani Interparliamentary Cooperation Committee issued joint statement

27 December 2006 17:18 (UTC +04:00)

The formation and development of close relations between the EU and Azerbaijan, respect of human rights and acceptance of democratic principles everywhere in Europe are within the interests of both sides.
â€œMutual respect toward sovereignty and territorial integrity, immunity of international borders by Azerbaijan and member states will contribute to neighborhood relations, prosperity and stability in South Caucasus and Europeâ€?, the statement says.
The statement calls on the opening of Representation to increase efficiency of EU Baku Office activities. Azerbaijanâ€™s steps towards the admission to the World Trade Organization and efforts are supported. The statement also urges the European Commission to contribute to the process and notes the necessity of improvement of negotiations on admission to WTO. Besides, EC contribution to Azerbaijan in connection with legal and institutional reforms in human rights and supremacy of the law is also noted. The statement expresses the concern over the assassination of Elmar Huseynov and regret over the investigation not being finished. The statement also urges the government to make more efforts on the issue.
â€œWe urge Azerbaijani authorities to sign and ratify the Regulation of the International Crimes Courtâ€?, the statement says.
EU-Azerbaijani Interparliamentary Cooperation Committee supports territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and considers that the issue can be settled in one way.
â€œWe support OSCEâ€™s efforts to settle the conflict by UN Security Council resolutions and OSCE decisions. We support that the conflict can be settled by taking into consideration the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty, human rights, democracy. We do not recognize the constituonal referendum in Nagorno Karabakh and note that this action cannot be the way to settle the conflict and thatâ€™s why such actions cannot be considered as legalâ€?, the statement says. /APA/