“Participants of the 3+3 format Tehran meeting reached a consensus as a result of a joint communiqué inter alia, which clearly outlined the view that the regional countries should have the primary role and responsibility to address regional problems and outstanding issues, which means that the regional countries want to enhance their sense of ownership over the processes in the South Caucasus,” Azerbaijani Presidential Representative for Special Assignments Elchin Amirbayov said in an interview with BBC Radio, Report informs.
“There are some attempts from external and non-regional countries who pursuing their narrow, selfish internal agendas, try to impose some of their 'solutions' to the problems in the region preceding from the domestic agendas. They somehow try to ignite the tension in the South Caucasus,” he said.
Amirbayov recalled that the idea of creating the consultative regional platform 3+3 was put forward by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev right after the end of the Second Karabakh War at the end of 2020: “The idea was to bring together the three countries of the South Caucasus - Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, as well as our three neighbors - Türkiye, Russia, and Iran, to explore the possibilities of engaging in regional cooperation and interaction in various fields in the post-conflict period. There is untapped potential for practical cooperation in fields like connectivity, transport, energy, trade, science, and so on.”
According to the presidential aide, France misuses its leading role in international organizations such as the UN Security Council, the European Union, the European Parliament, and even the International Organization of the Francophonie, and this point is clearly manifested in relation to Azerbaijan: “France has been initiating and promoting recently very biased anti-Azerbaijani initiatives perceiving from its narrow domestic agenda. Thus, France is not only undermining its own credibility and that of the EU but also causes detrimental effects to the prospects of advancing the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan and undermining the security in the South Caucasus.”