Jeyhun Bayramov, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, met Thursday with Miguel Ángel Maratinos, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), on the margins of the high-level week of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

During the meeting, the discussions revolved around the issues on the current cooperation agenda between Azerbaijan and the UNAOC, future plans, joint projects, as well as current post-conflict situation in the region.

Minister Bayramov hailed the successful and fruitful Azerbaijan-UNAOC cooperation, stressing the personal contribution of High Representative Moratinos in development of bilateral cooperation dynamics.

The Azerbaijani FM also touched upon the country’s role in the inter-civilization dialogue and the projects implemented with the UNAOC in this regard.

The Azerbaijani top diplomat informed the UNAOC High Representative about the current situation and realities in the region, as well as the normalization and peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

He noted that during nearly 30 years of occupation, the Azerbaijani territories had faced grave humanitarian and cultural destructions, noting the Azerbaijani cultural heritage was subjected to deliberate plundering, destruction and illegal changes.

He said that despite the grave humanitarian consequences of the occupation, Azerbaijan was the first to come forward with the peace initiative after the conflict, also making the most efforts toward advancing the process. Jeyhun Bayramov also underscored several items, hindering the signing of the peace agreement and advancing the peace agenda, including the ongoing territorial claims against Azerbaijan enshrined in the Constitution and legal acts of Armenia.

The meeting also saw discussions on other bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual concern.