FM: Yerevan avoids substantive talks on Nagorno-Karabakh
By Rashid Shirinov
Yerevan avoids substantive negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, said Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
The minister made the remark during the meeting with Herbert Salber, the EU special representative for the South Caucasus in Hamburg, further adding that Armenia strengthens its military presence in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
The presence of the Armenian armed forces in the occupied Azerbaijani territories remains the main reason for escalation of the conflict in the region and it is the main obstacle to conflict’s resolution, the minister said.
As for the EU citizen diplomacy measures implemented in the conflict settlement, Mammadyarov stressed the importance of continuing the dialogue between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The parties also mulled the prospects of developing the Azerbaijan-EU cooperation.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
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