President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony the opening ceremony of Mid-Term Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement

Baku, April 5, AZERTAC

The opening ceremony of the 18th Mid-Term Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) titled “Promoting international peace security for sustainable development” has been held at Baku Congress Center.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony of the Conference.

Prior to the opening ceremony participants posed together for photos.

Jorge Arreaza Montserrat, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, expressed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's support for the Non-Alignment Movement's activities and conveyed his greetings to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and conference participants.

The conference participants observed a minute`s silence to commemorate the presidents and leaders who died since the last Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in the Venezuelan city of Margarita.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a speech at the opening ceremony.

The event continued with the voting to elect chairman of the Conference.

Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov was elected as chairman of the Ministerial Conference.

The Non-Aligned Movement participating states, representatives of the observer states and international organizations, as well as countries and institutions invited as special guests are taking part in the Mid-Term Ministerial Conference.

The Non-Aligned Movement, which plays an important role in maintenance of the international peace and security, includes 120 states. 17 state and 10 international organizations have an observer status.

In 2011, Azerbaijan joined the movement at the 16th Ministerial Conference held in Bali. In 2019, Azerbaijan will host the 18th Summit of the NAM and will chair the movement in 2019-2022.