BAKU CONDEMNS ARMENIAN LEADER'S KARABAKH COMMENTS
news.az
Aug 22, 2011
Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has accused Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan of undermining the Karabakh peace process.
"These statements show Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's intention
to put an end to the agreements reached, beginning from the Prague
process up to the preparation of the updated Madrid principles," the
first secretary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry press service,
Elman Abdullayev, told 1news.az, referring to different stages in
the years of talks to find a peaceful settlement to the conflict.
Elman Abdullayev said that in remarks made on Saturday to an Armenian
youth camp Serzh Sargsyan had distorted facts and called for the
continuing occupation of Azerbaijani land.
"The sooner Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized, the better for all,
including Azerbaijan," the Armenian president told the young people.
He accused the Azerbaijani leadership of failing to recognize that
Karabakh was Armenian land and pledged that it would never be part
of Azerbaijan.
"Instead of preparing his people for peace and thereby contributing to
the development of the region and its welfare, Sargsyan is radicalizing
Armenian society," Abdullayev said, echoing Sargsyan's accusation that
the Azerbaijani leadership was making anti-Armenian statements and
"preaching hatred".
"In his statements, the Armenian president shows his real intentions
and reveals the real policy of Armenia, which is yet more proof that
he does not seek peace or plan to disavow his nonconstructive policy,"
Abdullayev told 1news.az.
He said that Serzh Sargsyan's remarks practically contradicted
the statements of the presidents of Russia, France and the United
States, the three countries that co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group,
the international body mediating a settlement to the conflict.
The spat highlights the nub of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia insists on the right of the ethnically
Armenian population of Karabakh to self-determination, while Azerbaijan
insists on respect for international law under which the territory
is part of Azerbaijan.
The two countries fought a bitter war over the territory which ended
in a cease-fire in 1994. Armenian forces occupy Karabakh and the seven
surrounding Azerbaijani districts. The OSCE Minsk Group has since been
seeking to mediate a settlement of the conflict, but the two sides'
positions remain far apart.
news.az
Aug 22, 2011
Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has accused Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan of undermining the Karabakh peace process.
"These statements show Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's intention
to put an end to the agreements reached, beginning from the Prague
process up to the preparation of the updated Madrid principles," the
first secretary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry press service,
Elman Abdullayev, told 1news.az, referring to different stages in
the years of talks to find a peaceful settlement to the conflict.
Elman Abdullayev said that in remarks made on Saturday to an Armenian
youth camp Serzh Sargsyan had distorted facts and called for the
continuing occupation of Azerbaijani land.
"The sooner Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized, the better for all,
including Azerbaijan," the Armenian president told the young people.
He accused the Azerbaijani leadership of failing to recognize that
Karabakh was Armenian land and pledged that it would never be part
of Azerbaijan.
"Instead of preparing his people for peace and thereby contributing to
the development of the region and its welfare, Sargsyan is radicalizing
Armenian society," Abdullayev said, echoing Sargsyan's accusation that
the Azerbaijani leadership was making anti-Armenian statements and
"preaching hatred".
"In his statements, the Armenian president shows his real intentions
and reveals the real policy of Armenia, which is yet more proof that
he does not seek peace or plan to disavow his nonconstructive policy,"
Abdullayev told 1news.az.
He said that Serzh Sargsyan's remarks practically contradicted
the statements of the presidents of Russia, France and the United
States, the three countries that co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group,
the international body mediating a settlement to the conflict.
The spat highlights the nub of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia insists on the right of the ethnically
Armenian population of Karabakh to self-determination, while Azerbaijan
insists on respect for international law under which the territory
is part of Azerbaijan.
The two countries fought a bitter war over the territory which ended
in a cease-fire in 1994. Armenian forces occupy Karabakh and the seven
surrounding Azerbaijani districts. The OSCE Minsk Group has since been
seeking to mediate a settlement of the conflict, but the two sides'
positions remain far apart.