No:495/21, Information of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the meeting of the Deputy Minister Elnur Mammadov with the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
On December 6, 2021, Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov received a delegation led by the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Jagan Chapagain. On December 4-6, the IFRC delegation visited Aghdam and Fuzuli, held meetings in government agencies and visited IDPs living near Baku.
The Deputy Minister thanked the head of IFRC for its humanitarian assistance to our country in the 1990s, as well as for its support in strengthening the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society, a member of the Federation. Informing the guests about the violations of international humanitarian law committed by Armenia during the 44-day Patriotic War, the Deputy Minister stressed that the deliberate targeting by Armenia of our settlements located far from the conflict zone is a serious violation of humanitarian law.
The hope was expressed that the resumption of the activities of the Federation's representative office in Azerbaijan last year will further strengthen cooperation between the organization and Azerbaijan, in particular, it was emphasized that this cooperation can contribute to the restoration of the territories liberated from the occupation to ensure the safe and dignified return of IDPs to their native lands.
The Secretary General noted that he was greatly affected by the scale of the destruction he saw in Aghdam. He noted that Azerbaijan is a rapidly developing country, and from this point of view, it is important that the national society develops in accordance with this pace, and that the Federation will spare no effort to further strengthen the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society, and will continue to provide humanitarian support to the population affected by the conflict.
During the meeting, the international efforts of Azerbaijan in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, draft resolutions on equitable distribution of vaccines and combating vaccine nationalism put forward by Azerbaijan, as chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, in the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly were discussed. The Secretary General praised Azerbaijan's efforts towards equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.
