Azerbaijani MP talks about end of Armenia’s rhetoric over Karabakh conflict settlement
Trend:
After the meeting between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the CIS summit in Dushanbe, an end was put to the harsh rhetoric voiced by Armenia concerning the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since April 2018, Azerbaijani MP Hikmat Babaoglu told Trend.
“This is the result of the diplomacy being pursued by Azerbaijan,” he said. “Thus, an end was put to such Pashinyan’s claims as that Azerbaijan must negotiate with the illegal regime established in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, that the format of the negotiations must be changed and that Armenia must not be a party to the negotiations. In other words, Armenia could not escape from responsibility for pursuing an aggressive policy and its consequences."
Babaoglu stressed that despite this, Azerbaijan’s commitment to the peaceful settlement of the problem is a chance for Armenia and the aggressor country should be able to appreciate it.
"The fact of current occupation violates the geostrategic integrity of the region by diminishing its significance,” he said. “The economic and socio-cultural integrity of the region have been also violated.”
“Regional integration has been paralyzed,” Babaoglu said. “Continuation of this situation contradicts the national interests of all three South Caucasus countries and this should be ended. It will be good for Armenia to start to take concrete steps to eliminate the fact of aggression. It will benefit everyone.”
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.