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Tbilisi hosts international conference on "The legal consequences of illegal visits to the occupied territories of the Eastern Partnership countries"

26 September 2014 11:44 (UTC +04:00)

Tbilisi. Nizami Mammadzadeh – APA. A conference on "The legal consequences of illegal visits to the occupied territories of the Eastern Partnership countries" has today kicked off in Tbilisi.

APA’s Georgia correspondent reports that the conference is dedicated to the illegal visits paid to Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as Transnistria.

One of the leaders of Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI), Natia Imnadze delivered a keynote speech. She stressed the importance of the discussions following the occupation of the Crimea.

Then, State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia Paata Zakareishvili, Chairman of the Council of State Support to NGOs under the President of Azerbaijan, MP Azay Guliyev, Deputy Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Georgia Boris Yarochevitch, Georgian MP Giorgi Tsereteli and Chairman of Temporary Parliamentary Commission on Territorial Integrity Issues Giorgi Volski delivered speeches. They voiced their opinions and suggestions on illegal visits to the occupied territories.

Zakareishvili spoke about the lack of public discussions and political assessments regarding the conflicts: “If discussed thoroughly, these conflicts can be solved. Visits to the occupied territories are illegal. It may be allowed only in case of certain permits,” he said.

A.Guliyev said 335 persons had made illegal visits to Azerbaijan’s occupied territories to date, and their names are in the “black list”. Mentioning the related UN resolutions, he expressed regret for them being unfulfilled as yet.

A.Guliyev said in his statement to APA that the main purpose of the event is to develop relevant proposals and mechanisms in order to prevent illegal visits to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova.

The conference is attended by UN, OSCE, and EU representatives, representatives of the diplomatic corpse, international experts, and representatives of state authorities of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova, NGOs and mass Media. At the event, Azerbaijan is represented by A.Guliyev, Chairman of the State Support Council to NGOs under the President, MPs Bakhtiyar Aliyev and Asim Mollazade, Chairman of the International Research Center on Democratic Processes public union Adil Rajabli, representatives of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Georgia and journalists.

The conference, which is due to carry on its work tomorrow, is expected to adopt an appeal to world states, the UN and some other international organizations to condemn illegal visits that are made to occupied lands.