MFA: Azerbaijan pursues independent policy based on its national interests, unlike Armenia
By Trend
Azerbaijan pursues independent policy based on its national interests, unlike Armenia, Spokesperson for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said.
Abdullayeva made the remark commenting on the statements of Armenian Foreign Ministry made on September 2, Trend reports.
"Recently, in the statements of Armenia at the level of the foreign minister, we see attempts to resume negotiations on a peaceful solution to the Karabakh conflict. Desire to link these attempts with the statements made during the official visit of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov to Russia is obvious," she noted.
"Apparently, the Armenian side listened attentively to the speech of the Azerbaijani minister during the briefing at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow," the spokesperson added.
As Abdullayeva reminded, at the briefing the Azerbaijani minister stressed that Azerbaijan's position on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is based on the norms and principles of international law, documents and resolutions of international organizations, primarily on the UN Security Council resolutions.
“Within the framework of a peaceful solution to the conflict, it is necessary to liberate Azerbaijani territories from occupation and return the internally displaced persons to their homes. This position of Azerbaijan is unchangeable and the basis of any negotiations held to resolve the conflict should be elimination of the consequences of Armenia’s occupation policy,” she said.
According to her, if the occupation forces of Armenia are withdrawn from the internationally recognized Azerbaijani territories of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding district, strengthening of the ceasefire regime and investigation of the reasons of armed incidents on the line of contact won’t be needed.
“It's obvious that Armenia is double-dealing again. On the one hand, Armenia is talking about the peace process, on the other, following the provocation in the Tovuz direction of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, it tried to commit an act of sabotage on the line of contact, threatened to bombard Azerbaijani cities and continues the policy of illegal settlement of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” Abdullayeva pointed out.
“Moreover, the conditions put forward by Armenia’s prime minister and foreign minister during the negotiation process and their statements, having neither legal nor political justifications, are aimed at disrupting the negotiations,” she also noted.
“As for the statements of the press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry about the official position of Azerbaijan in connection with the weapons supplied to Armenia by Russia and the diplomatic potential of Azerbaijan, I can say that, unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan pursues an independent policy, relying on its national interests, and Azerbaijani diplomats adequately implement this policy,” the spokesperson said.
“Armenia has historically been a tool in the foreign policy of other states and for 29 years of independence it has not yet understood how to implement its independent policy," she concluded.
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, 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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