President Aliyev: Armenia shouldn’t avoid Karabakh talks
By Trend
Armenia shouldn’t avoid negotiations on the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said
in a joint press statement with French President Francois
Hollande.
“First of all, Mr. President, I would like to express my gratitude
for your invitation, the hospitality extended to me and the
delegation,” Ilham Aliyev said to Francois Hollande. “I am very
glad to be back in France. You visited Azerbaijan twice. This is
the indicator of the French-Azerbaijani ties.”
“The political dialogue developing between us has entered a very
active stage,” the Azerbaijani president said. “We continue this
dialogue today. We see that our positions coincide on many issues.
Strong political relations, of course, have a positive impact on
the ties developing in all spheres.”
Ilham Aliyev noted that France, as the co-chair country of the OSCE
Minsk Group, is making efforts to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“We highly appreciate these efforts,” Aliyev said. “In particular,
I would like to note the meeting I held with the president of
Armenia at the end of 2014 on your initiative in the Elysee Palace.
This was a very constructive and positive meeting. Unfortunately,
certain stagnation was observed in the negotiation process after
this meeting.”
“We want the soonest resolution of the issue on the basis of the
norms and principles of international law,” Ilham Aliyev said.
“Armenia has been long occupying the Azerbaijani lands recognized
by the international community. Armenia has been holding the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and the seven adjacent districts under
occupation. All of the Azerbaijani population, hundreds of
thousands of people were expelled from these regions. All the
infrastructure and buildings were destroyed there.”
“The OSCE fact-finding missions twice visited the occupied lands
and reflected it in their reports,” the Azerbaijani president said.
“The UN Security Council adopted four resolutions related to the
[Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict, and these resolutions openly state
that the Armenian Armed Forces must be immediately and
unconditionally withdrawn from the occupied lands. These
resolutions were adopted in the early 1990s. Armenia, as it seems,
doesn’t feel like implementing these resolutions.”
“Therefore, at the first stage, the negotiations should be resumed
as soon as possible,” he noted. “As Mr. Hollande noted, the status
quo is unacceptable. The presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chair countries - France, Russia and the US - have repeatedly
stated that the status quo is unacceptable. We say the same thing,
we want the status quo to change and the conflict to end as soon as
possible, so that peace would be ensured in our region, and the
Azerbaijani IDPs could return to their native lands.”
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