Armenia’s occupation policy deprives it of regional cooperation
By Rashid Shirinov
Armenia’s occupation policy deprives it of regional cooperation, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev said on June 27.
He made the remarks at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).
In his speech, Mammadguliyev noted that the military conflict and the ongoing occupation do not allow to fully use the trade and economic potential of the region, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend.
Mammadguliyev added that Armenia’s continuation of occupation of the Azerbaijani territories eventually deprive Armenia of regional cooperation in trade, investment, transport, energy and other spheres.
Mammadguliyev stressed that the states of the region should build regional cooperation and trade relations on the basis of the territorial integrity of each state, respect for sovereignty and norms and principles of international law.
He added that the continuation of occupation against Azerbaijan is the regrettable reality, and noted that it is important to correctly approach all issues and call problems by their names.
The deputy FM mentioned that Azerbaijan has no claim to anyone and stressed that the country, on the contrary, seeks to mutually beneficial cooperation to ensure an environment with stability and good-neighborly relations.
During his speech, Mammadguliyev focused on the reforms necessary for the BSEC and the development of sectoral cooperation aimed at achieving the result.
Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since a war in the early 1990s, 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.
To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.
Baku has repeatedly expressed its consent to come to the negotiating table with Yerevan to resolve the conflict by peaceful means, but Armenia continues to play for time and avoids substantive negotiations in order to preserve the inadmissible status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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