During the press conference the AIR Center Chairman Farid Shafiyev elaborated on the Center’s activities and noted that the foreign audience was the main target. "The main direction of our activity is to inform the foreign audience about the Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, the steps taken in the post-conflict period, and the country's foreign policy agenda in general, which includes energy, transportation projects, and humanitarian issues. During this year, the employees of the Center published articles on the highlighted issues in prestigious international newspapers.”
Farid Shafiyev said that this year several events and conferences were held both inside and outside of Azerbaijan. He especially stressed 2 conferences organized jointly with the ADA University in Shusha and Baku with the participation of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Farid Shafiyev also mentioned the other events that took place in Shusha city. He also spoke about bilateral relations: "This year, the AIR Center delegation visited the United States and held meetings with the Jamestown Foundation and the Caspian Policy Center. We also currently cooperate with several think tanks in Brussels. Moreover, the Center is working on a report regarding EU-Azerbaijan relations."
Farid Shafiyev also mentioned about the conferences held in Greece, Bulgaria, and Poland. He informed about the events organized in Turkey noting that there is a wide agenda with partners in Turkey, which includes not only bilateral relations, but also regional issues like the South Caucasus, the Middle East, and Iran.
The Chairman informed about the expansion of cooperation with Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia. He said that communication with the Middle East has also been developed, and a report on the activities of the Armenian diaspora in the Middle East is currently being prepared at the Center. He also pointed out that separate reports on the activities of the Armenian diaspora in Argentina, France and Russia have been published: "A detailed research about Azerbaijan is needed for an international audience, that is why our main goal is to work with the foreign audience. It is worth to mention that knowledge of language is an important factor in this regard, but there are gaps in writings in the Azerbaijani language as well. Thus, translating good research is a technical matter."
Farid Shafiyev said that the Center investigated the issue around Lachin road two years ago and has been working in this direction since its foundation. Later, a presentation on the Center's activities in 2022 was made by the Center’s media representative and journalists' questions were answered.
