Azerbaijani foreign minister receives Pakistani delegation

ANKARA

Azerbaijan's foreign minister received a military delegation from Pakistan on Thursday led by the director general of the Frontier Works Organization, the construction and engineering wing of the Pakistani army.

"Minister Jeyhun Bayramov cordially greeted the delegation and expressed satisfaction with the current state of friendly and brotherly relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," said a statement by Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry.

Bayramov welcomed Pakistan's "ever-present support for Azerbaijan's just position, which is based on international law" and "is highly valued by the Azerbaijani state and people."

A set of meetings were held as part of the delegation's visit and its visit "to the liberated territories provided an ample opportunity for the members of the organization to better understand the situation in the region."

Azerbaijani and Pakistani officials "expressed confidence that this visit would be fruitful and make a positive contribution to the developing relations between our countries."

Meanwhile, the Director-General of Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organization, Major General Kamal Azfar, expressed his gratitude over Bayramov’s warm welcome and conveyed his congratulations once more to Azerbaijan and its people on the liberation of Upper Karabakh.

"While noting with regret that they had witnessed the scale of destruction in these areas during their visits to the liberated districts, he emphasized that they feel great pride in the return of those territories to Azerbaijani control," added the statement.

According to the communique, the two countries exchanged views on the prospects for further development of bilateral relations.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought for six weeks last year after clashes erupted on Sept. 27. The Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.