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FM: KARABAKH NEGOTIATING TABLE SHOULD BE 'CLEANED OFF ISSUES' HAMPERING PEACE
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
July 29 2013
29 July 2013, 12:11 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has said it is
necessary to clean the negotiating table on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement off issues which can hamper peace and stability
in the region.
In an interview with France 24 TV channel during his visit to France,
Mammadyarov said the most problematic issue for the conflict
resolution is the presence of Armenian troops in the occupied
Azerbaijani territories.
"No one recognizes the so-called 'Nagorno-Karabakh Republic', including
the Armenians themselves," he said.
Mammadyarov pointed out that the UN Security Council, a major body
for international security, adopted four resolutions regarding the
conflict and all of them clearly indicate that Nagorno-Karabakh is
Azerbaijan's territory.
"Azerbaijan considers Armenians who are still living in
Nagorno-Karabakh as citizens of Azerbaijan," Mammadyarov said.
He underlined that withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from
the occupied Azerbaijani territories can create conditions to open
communications, return IDPs home and defuse the tension.
In Nagorno-Karabakh, adjacent regions and the regions bordering on
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh about 700,000 people were deprived
of their places of residence and turned into IDPs as a result of
occupation. They are temporarily settled in 62 cities and regions of
Azerbaijan in more than 1,600 densely populated areas.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against the neighboring country. Since a lengthy
war between the two South Caucasus countries that displaced over
a million Azerbaijanis and ended with the signing of a precarious
cease-fire in 1994, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent
of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The four UN Security Council resolutions, which urge Armenian pullout
from the occupied territories, have not been implemented to this day.
Peace talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs representing the
United States, Russia and France have been largely fruitless so far.
The negotiations are underway on the basis of the peace outline dubbed
the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document
envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh
to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of
Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the
right of all internally displaced persons to return home.
http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/57422.html
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
July 29 2013
29 July 2013, 12:11 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has said it is
necessary to clean the negotiating table on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement off issues which can hamper peace and stability
in the region.
In an interview with France 24 TV channel during his visit to France,
Mammadyarov said the most problematic issue for the conflict
resolution is the presence of Armenian troops in the occupied
Azerbaijani territories.
"No one recognizes the so-called 'Nagorno-Karabakh Republic', including
the Armenians themselves," he said.
Mammadyarov pointed out that the UN Security Council, a major body
for international security, adopted four resolutions regarding the
conflict and all of them clearly indicate that Nagorno-Karabakh is
Azerbaijan's territory.
"Azerbaijan considers Armenians who are still living in
Nagorno-Karabakh as citizens of Azerbaijan," Mammadyarov said.
He underlined that withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from
the occupied Azerbaijani territories can create conditions to open
communications, return IDPs home and defuse the tension.
In Nagorno-Karabakh, adjacent regions and the regions bordering on
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh about 700,000 people were deprived
of their places of residence and turned into IDPs as a result of
occupation. They are temporarily settled in 62 cities and regions of
Azerbaijan in more than 1,600 densely populated areas.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against the neighboring country. Since a lengthy
war between the two South Caucasus countries that displaced over
a million Azerbaijanis and ended with the signing of a precarious
cease-fire in 1994, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent
of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The four UN Security Council resolutions, which urge Armenian pullout
from the occupied territories, have not been implemented to this day.
Peace talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs representing the
United States, Russia and France have been largely fruitless so far.
The negotiations are underway on the basis of the peace outline dubbed
the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document
envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh
to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of
Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the
right of all internally displaced persons to return home.
http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/57422.html