Baku, July 09, 2025 – The Europe Today: Azerbaijan has firmly rejected remarks made by Mehdi Sobhani, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Armenia, regarding the outcome document of the 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), held in the city of Khankendi.
Responding to the ambassador’s allegations, Aykhan Hajizada, Spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the comments were “unacceptable” and based on a misrepresentation of the Summit’s procedural and diplomatic norms.
Hajizada clarified that the Khankendi Communiqué, which reflects the results of the Summit, was prepared in the form of a Chairman’s Summary, in line with established ECO practice and with the prior agreement of all member states. As such, it did not require individual approval or endorsement from the members and was subsequently published on the official ECO website.
“In this context, the Iranian Ambassador’s allegations about the adoption of the Khankendi Communiqué and that Iran placed reservations on it do not reflect the actual situation,” Hajizada said. “In diplomatic practice, reservations can only be made in relation to decisions adopted as a result of negotiations.”
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry also emphasized that all ECO member states — including Iran — are also members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and all, including Iran, have consistently supported the right of return for the Western Azerbaijan Community to their historical homelands. This position was reaffirmed in the resolution on the “right of return of Azerbaijanis forcibly and systematically displaced from present-day territories of Armenia” adopted at the 51st session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers held in Istanbul on June 21–22, as well as in the final Istanbul Declaration.
“The Khankendi Communiqué refers specifically to this Declaration, which was adopted by consensus within the ECO,” Hajizada noted.
He further described the Iranian ambassador’s recent interview with Armenia’s Armenpress news agency as “nothing more than political manipulation and hypocrisy.”
The statement signals Azerbaijan’s strong disapproval of what it views as Iran’s attempt to politicize the technical and procedural elements of the ECO Summit documentation, while reaffirming Baku’s position on the rights of displaced Azerbaijani communities.
