The press conference on the outcomes of the year 2022 was held on 27 December 2022 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The conference was attended by the senior leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, local media representatives, as well foreign journalists accredited in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov informed the conference participants about the main directions of our foreign policy in 2022 and the obtained results.

It was noted that steps were taken to improve bilateral relations in the year 2022, in which the Republic of Azerbaijan celebrates the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with many states. In this regard, it was emphasized that the development of fruitful cooperation with both neighboring and other states in the political, economic, cultural, humanitarian, and other fields has been under constant attention.

While noting the active engagement of Azerbaijan in the course of the year within international organizations, including the United Nations (UN), the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), European Union (EU), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and others, minister Jeyhun Bayramov elaborated on contributions of Azerbaijan to the efforts in promoting international peace, security, and development.

Noting the growing role of Azerbaijan as an initiator and participant of the economic, transport, and humanitarian projects carried out in the region, as well as in the world, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov informed the conference participants about the activities undertaken by Azerbaijan in ensuring global energy security, developing regional transportation and communication, as well as support rendered by Azerbaijan to humanitarian and development assistance at the international level.

While speaking on diplomatic activities during the post-conflict period, normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the promotion of peace agenda, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stressed that activities aiming at the restoration of transportation-communication links, prevention of illegal economic activities in our territories, raising awareness among the international community on the regional situation following the end of conflict and initiation of legal liability measures against Armenia within international courts have continued.

Touching upon the issues related to the protection of rights and freedoms of Azerbaijani citizens, it was noted that, in total, over the course of the year, 68 citizens (54 children and 14 women) were evacuated from Syria and Iraq and more than 16 thousand people were evacuated from Ukraine.

It was emphasized that several events have been organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the “Year of Shusha”, the special edition of World of Diplomacy magazine dedicated to Shusha year was published, and press tours for foreign journalists have been organized to the liberated territories in order to ensure information support of the foreign policy.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov noted that a centralized examination process has been organized in order to strengthen the human resources potential of the Ministry. He stressed that out of around 500 applicants, 67 passed the exams successfully. 38 of them have already been recruited and the remaining candidates will be recruited to the diplomatic service soon.

Later Minister Jeyhun Bayramov responded to numerous questions from media representatives.