Tweet
DEPUTY MINISTER: AZERBAIJAN READY TO CONTINUE EFFORTS TO RESOLVE CONFLICT
Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 13 2011
The primary goal in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to
normalize ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on principles of
international law, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov
said today.
He added that Azerbaijan is ready to continue its political efforts
to resolve the conflict.
"The question of the lack of results from the negotiation process
is valid, as it has been carried out and is being carried out within
the Minsk Group with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev," Azimov said.
Asimov stressed with regret that the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian
presidents' Kazan meeting yielded no results, and afterward there
was a sense of a pause. However, he added, Sochi hosted Aliyev and
Medvedev in August, and "we hope that following this meeting Russia
will modify its actions and together with two other co-chairs of the
Minsk Group will try to intensify the process."
"Unfortunately, we hear more and more statements of an offensive
nature by the Armenian president, which seem to be speculative. It
refers to his recent statement in New York about the need to recognize
independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. We also face Armenia's
intensified efforts to procure weapons of an offensive nature,"
Azimov said.
"I think they deliberately try to provoke a crisis, relying on Russian
peacekeepers, such as what happened in August 2008 in Georgia. The
development of such a crisis is easy to predict and this can lead to
extremely negative consequences," Azimov said.
He said Azerbaijan is not interested in any crisis.
"We are interested in quiet, normal arrangements that would ensure
the integrity and inviolability of our territory, and the return of
IDPs," he said.
Commenting on the change in the format of negotiations on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azimov said if the question was about some
other conflict, it would be possible to discuss such a possibility.
"In this case we have the OSCE Minsk Group, working based on 1975
Helsinki Act. The U.S., France and Russia are members of the Minsk
Group, and they have duties of co-chairs. On the other hand, these
countries are permanent members of the UN Security Council. If not
the Minsk Group, there is the Security Council, I do not see much
difference," Azimov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. -
are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.
Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 13 2011
The primary goal in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to
normalize ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on principles of
international law, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov
said today.
He added that Azerbaijan is ready to continue its political efforts
to resolve the conflict.
"The question of the lack of results from the negotiation process
is valid, as it has been carried out and is being carried out within
the Minsk Group with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev," Azimov said.
Asimov stressed with regret that the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian
presidents' Kazan meeting yielded no results, and afterward there
was a sense of a pause. However, he added, Sochi hosted Aliyev and
Medvedev in August, and "we hope that following this meeting Russia
will modify its actions and together with two other co-chairs of the
Minsk Group will try to intensify the process."
"Unfortunately, we hear more and more statements of an offensive
nature by the Armenian president, which seem to be speculative. It
refers to his recent statement in New York about the need to recognize
independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. We also face Armenia's
intensified efforts to procure weapons of an offensive nature,"
Azimov said.
"I think they deliberately try to provoke a crisis, relying on Russian
peacekeepers, such as what happened in August 2008 in Georgia. The
development of such a crisis is easy to predict and this can lead to
extremely negative consequences," Azimov said.
He said Azerbaijan is not interested in any crisis.
"We are interested in quiet, normal arrangements that would ensure
the integrity and inviolability of our territory, and the return of
IDPs," he said.
Commenting on the change in the format of negotiations on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azimov said if the question was about some
other conflict, it would be possible to discuss such a possibility.
"In this case we have the OSCE Minsk Group, working based on 1975
Helsinki Act. The U.S., France and Russia are members of the Minsk
Group, and they have duties of co-chairs. On the other hand, these
countries are permanent members of the UN Security Council. If not
the Minsk Group, there is the Security Council, I do not see much
difference," Azimov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. -
are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.