Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov has said Armenia has driven itself into the transport and economic impasse with its destructive policy.
“The Azerbaijani side prefers constructive approach. We know that the destructive approach is simpler, and, unfortunately, the results of this destructive policy are visible in the neighboring country, which is isolated from a great number of projects and has driven itself into the transport and economic impasse, and, apparently, doesn’t want to get out of it,” Jabbarov said.
Jabbarov made the comments in response to representative of the Armenian delegation that was attending the 14th meeting of the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) of the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA), held in Baku recently.
The minister also touched upon the issue of erecting a monument in the center of Yerevan to Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan, an Armenian nationalist who served to the German fascists under the nickname Garegin Nzhdeh.
“Next year will mark the 75th anniversary of the victory over fascism. So, one more time, think about what people you are erecting monuments to. Meanwhile, we have an individual cultural program especially for you,” he informed.
Jabbarov further invited the Armenian delegation to visit the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, where there’s an exhibition devoted to the Armenian capital Yerevan that used to be part of Azerbaijan until 1920.
“It [exhibition] was kindly provided to us by our colleagues from the Georgian museum, where it is exhibited on a regular basis. Believe me, you will learn a lot of new things about the history of the founding of the Iravan khanate and Iravan (today Yerevan) city. But this is only if you are interested. Meanwhile, TRACECA is moving forward,” Jabbarov noted.
An Armenian delegation headed by Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Armen Simonyan visited Azerbaijan to take part in the 14th meeting of the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA) Commission on December 5 and 6.
Besides Simonyan, Chief of the Technical Policy Department of the Ministry of Transportation and Transport of Armenia Arman Karapetyan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Multilateral Policy and Development Co-ordinator Artyom Aznauryan were among the visitors.
Speaking at the conference, Simonyan had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural program of the conference. In particular, Simonyan was wondering why the conference participants should visit the Alley of Honor in Baku.
The Alley of Honor is a public cemetery and memorial in Baku that includes burials of famous Azerbaijanis and Azerbaijan-affiliated expatriates, including several presidents, scientists and artists. There are 242 burials in total.
