Baku: Cypriot FM’s position encourages Armenia’s aggressive policy
By Rashid Shirinov
Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides’s statement on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict contradicts Cyprus’s obligations to the international law and the Helsinki Final Act, and encourages the policy of aggression and occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev made the remark when commenting on Kasoulides’s statement, saying “Nagorno-Karabakh is the historical territory of Armenians”. The FM made the statement at a meeting with Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan on May 30.
Hajiyev said that the thoughts voiced by Kasoulides also ruin the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs’ peaceful efforts to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and bring sustainable peace to the region.
“These statements are also incompatible with the positions of the EU, the OSCE and the Council of Europe, where Cyprus is a member state,” the spokesman said.
Hajiyev added that Kasoulides refutes himself by making such contradictory statements: “While addressing the OSCE Permanent Council as chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on January 26, 2017, the Cypriot foreign minister stated that Cyprus supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and the political independence of countries.”
Stressing that the military cooperation between Cyprus and Armenia raises certain questions and suspicions, Hajiyev expressed hope that the issue will be considered by the EU and the OSCE.
Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims to Azerbaijan. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, but they have not been enforced to this day.
---
Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!