Moratinos: Azerbaijan and Armenia should start new page in their common history

In an interview with Report on the sidelines of the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, Miguel Angel Moratinos, the High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), spoke about the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, solutions to conflicts in the world, and his expectations from the COP29 to be held in Baku:

- Mr. Moratinos, first of all, we would like to know your opinion about the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. How do you assess the recent events and the agreement of the parties on defining the borders?

- As President Aliyev said in his speech at the global forum, reconciliation, mutual understanding, mutual respect, and starting a new chapter in relations are very important. I think it is the key message that can be sent to the world in this occasion. So I think the parties are working together without mediation, trying to overcome the complicated past relationship. And we as an international organization have to support that, respecting international law.

- As a person involved in the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, do you think it is possible to sign a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia by the end of the year?

- I hope so. I'm sure both sides are working hard and I salute the leadership of both leaders and, of course, the great vision and leadership of President Aliyev. And I think they should start a new page of their common history.

- You once visited the region as the foreign affairs minister of Spain, the acting chairman of the OSCE, and held discussions on the solution of the Karabakh conflict. At one point there were even Madrid principles. Did you expect the conflict to be resolved like this at the time?

- It is always possible to do something. Yesterday, today, or tomorrow—none of these are the wrong times. We should never forget that international law defends a very important and essential principle – territorial integrity. And you have to defend it in all cases.

So the cancer of today's international community is the conflict and the instability. They have a kind of double standard. So, you have to defend the same principles in all cases. We defended territorial integrity in all occasions and we will continue to do so. International organizations have to defend one of the main principles, which is territorial integrity. So now we are in the occasion that we can consolidate and I hope the international main actors will defend what we defend.

I remember we had some crisis with the Russian Federation about Georgia and at that time I was foreign minister and I told my colleagues that we defend the territorial integrity of Serbia in the case of Kosovo, so we must defend the territorial integrity of Georgia. So it has to be the same in all occasions.

- According to the tripartite agreement, Russian peacekeepers were supposed to leave the territory of Azerbaijan in 2025. However, they did so a year ahead of schedule. What do you think about this decision?

- Azerbaijan got back its sovereign territory and people are returning back to their homes. Tomorrow I will visit Shusha which is part of Azerbaijan. As I said in my speech, and as I discussed with the president, we have to preserve and respect all religious places.

- Finally, we would like to know your thoughts about COP29. How do you assess Azerbaijan's hosting of such an important conference? What is the UN's support to our country within COP29?

-Well, it's a great moment. It shows that Azerbaijan is fully respected in the international community and they have trust and confidence in the way it's going to be led by President Aliyev and his team. It's going to be a very successful conference for the planet and for humanity. I just received an invitation from President Aliyev and of course, I will come.