BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Azerbaijan's Deputy Prime Minister Samir Sharifov and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), Chung Eui-yong, have discussed enhancement of Asian cooperation, the Cabinet of Ministers told Trend.
The discussion was held during the deputy prime minister's meeting with a delegation led by Chung Eui-yong.
At the meeting, Sharifov said that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has identified the development of relations with Asian countries as one of the main priorities of the country's foreign policy.
In this framework, the deputy prime minister articulated that Azerbaijan deploys assistance initiatives for emerging economies within the Asia and Oceania sphere, with a particular focus on microstate entities.
Speaking about the New Azerbaijan Party’s (YAP) contributions to the activities of ICAPP, of which it has been a member of the Standing Committee since 2009, Sharifov highlighted that over the years, YAP has successfully hosted several high-level ICAPP events, including the 7th General Assembly.
In this regard, the importance of the 4th meeting of the ICAPP Asian Cultural Council, to be held tomorrow in Baku under the theme “From National Diversity to Global Solidarity: The Role of Culture in the New World Order,” was emphasized.
The meeting stressed that Azerbaijan contributes to strengthening political dialogue in Asia and to promoting peace, stability, and sustainable development through its active participation in ICAPP initiatives.
Sharifov also provided insights into Azerbaijan's liberation of its territories from nearly 30 years of Armenian occupation in 2020, the restoration of its territorial integrity and sovereignty, and the extensive reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts currently underway in the liberated areas.
In this context, Azerbaijan's dealing with the severe consequences of the occupation by Armenia, which requires substantial financial resources, was pointed out, and the damage caused to Azerbaijan as a result of Armenia’s aggression is estimated at $150 billion.
Nevertheless, Sharifov emphasized that Azerbaijan, as a peace-oriented country, has proposed the signing of a peace agreement with Armenia and noted that a historic agreement aimed at establishing peace between the two countries was reached on August 8 of this year in Washington.
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