Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Azerbaijan's foreign minister once again stressed that peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is impossible without withdrawal of Armenian troops from occupied territories.

Armenia is responsible for breaking out war against Azerbaijan, use of force against the country, the occupation of its territories, ethnic cleansing, and other serious crimes, said Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE.

The sooner Armenia withdraws its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, the sooner the conflict will be resolved and until that, a peaceful settlement is not possible, said Azerbaijani FM.

The minister stressed that Armenia not only rejects implementing the well-known UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict settlement, but rather resorts to an armed provocation against Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly noted its readiness to resolve the conflict through substantive negotiations.

“The sooner Armenia realizes this and withdraws its troops from the occupied territories, the sooner the conflict be solved and Armenia will be able to take advantage of the economic benefits of the regional cooperation,” Mammadyarov concluded.

The occupation of Azerbaijani lands harms Armenia itself – due to its policy, the country cannot benefit from the international projects. If that continues, Armenia will be even more ignored by its neighbors.

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 the resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of the due attention of the international community for years.

By ignoring four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, as well as appropriate documents adopted by The European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Non-Aligned Movement, Armenia intends to preserve the status quo in the region and freezes the needed settlement of the conflict.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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