South Caucasus leaders condemn Brussels attacks

Leaders from the South Caucasus have lent their support to the Belgian people after Tuesday's terror attacks in Brussels.

The bombs at Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station killed more than 30 people, with many more injured.

“We were deeply saddened by the news of heavy casualties and injuries as a result of explosions in the city of Brussels,” said Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev.

“We are extremely outraged by this horrible tragedy, resolutely condemn all manifestations of terror and fully support the fight against terrorism.”

Brothers Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui have been named as the attackers, while a third suspect has been named as Najim Laachraouiis.

“Armenia strongly condemns any manifestation of terrorism and remains committed to making its contribution to the international fight against that evil,” said President Serzh Sargsyan.

Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the attacks, which comes four months after the deadly attacks in Paris.

“As Georgia considers itself as part of the European family, these attacks specifically outraged and appalled my country," said President Giorgi Margvelashvili.

"I reaffirm Georgia’s strong support in fighting this greatest threat of the contemporary world as we, the leaders must stick together and unify our efforts to ensure a peaceful future for the humanity."

 


Related articles

Popular

Editor's choice
Interview
Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)