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By Trend

The independence of Armenia will be highly questionable, if normal good neighborly relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey are not established, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, told reporters Oct. 25, commenting on the visit to Baku of the National Security Advisor to the US President John Bolton.

The minister said that he asked Bolton to pose a question to the new leadership of Armenia about their readiness to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"I asked Bolton to pose a question to the new leaders of Armenia about their readiness to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. What do they want? Are they ready to establish normal relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey, to build good neighborly relations? Naturally, if the Armenian leadership does not establish normal good-neighborly relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey, then the independence of this country will be highly questionable," the minister said.

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.

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