President Aliyev: Potential for peace talks remains alive
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said the
possibilities for negotiating a settlement to the long-standing
conflict with Armenia have not yet been exhausted.
Aliyev told the Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS that resolving the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict was possible and Azerbaijan is focused on seeking a solution to the problem.
He emphasized that Baku was trying to intensify ongoing peace talks and clarify future prospects for a Garabagh settlement, considering that a new leader has recently come to power in Armenia.
"There are certain hopes for Armenia`s more constructive and realistic approach to the issue. These expectations have emerged not only among us, but also among the mediators dealing with settling the conflict," Aliyev said.
He noted that peace talks are currently underway based upon the principles outlined in the Moscow declaration signed by Baku and Yerevan late last year.
The Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders signed the document on November 2, 2008 as part of talks that were hosted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Being the first document signed by the two heads of state in the past 16 years, it called for settling the Garabagh conflict based upon principles of international law and respective decisions and resolutions passed so far.
"Naturally, this implies the four UN Security Council resolutions, the UN General Assembly resolution and the OSCE Lisbon summit decision. All these documents envision settling the conflict within Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity," the president said.
Aliyev said, further, that the Moscow declaration also foresees supplementing all stages of a treaty with international guarantees. Azerbaijan has always stated that the dispute could be resolved in stages. In other words, seven Azerbaijani districts around Upper Garabagh, currently under Armenian occupation, must be freed during the first stage. Azerbaijani refugees displaced during the armed conflict in the early 1990s are to return home. Also, the population that is living and will live in the region should be provided with international security guarantees. During the next stage, the legal status of Upper Garabagh is to be determined. The president reiterated that determining the residents` status must comply with his country`s territorial integrity.
Upper Garabagh has been occupied by Armenia since a 1994 ceasefire ended hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about one million Azeris from their homes. Years of peace talks have brought few tangible results.
However, Armenia has reiterated its claims to Upper Garabagh, with President Serzh Sarkisian declaring that the region does not belong to Azerbaijan.
"Garabagh will not be Azerbaijani territory. There is absolutely no legal ground for this," he announced during a meeting with representatives of the pro-government Prosperous Armenia party.
Sarkisian also said that the most important issue was that "the people of Garabagh" do not want their territory to be transferred to Azerbaijan`s control.
"Garabagh is our land, and it`s invaluable. Therefore, bargaining on this issue is out of place," the Armenian leader said.
Baku, in turn, stated that Sarkisian`s statement is baseless.
"Azerbaijan has not put its land up for sale. The people of Upper Garabagh are non-existent, and a non-existent nation cannot have any desires," Khazar Ibrahim, the spokesman for the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry said, emphasizing that the population of the region consists of both Azerbaijani and Armenian communities.
He said Sarkisian`s statement indicated that Yerevan was sticking to its policy of aggression.
Ibrahim added that the OSCE Minsk Group - a team of diplomats brokering a settlement to the Garabagh conflict - must respond to this statement.
Aliyev told the Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS that resolving the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict was possible and Azerbaijan is focused on seeking a solution to the problem.
He emphasized that Baku was trying to intensify ongoing peace talks and clarify future prospects for a Garabagh settlement, considering that a new leader has recently come to power in Armenia.
"There are certain hopes for Armenia`s more constructive and realistic approach to the issue. These expectations have emerged not only among us, but also among the mediators dealing with settling the conflict," Aliyev said.
He noted that peace talks are currently underway based upon the principles outlined in the Moscow declaration signed by Baku and Yerevan late last year.
The Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders signed the document on November 2, 2008 as part of talks that were hosted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Being the first document signed by the two heads of state in the past 16 years, it called for settling the Garabagh conflict based upon principles of international law and respective decisions and resolutions passed so far.
"Naturally, this implies the four UN Security Council resolutions, the UN General Assembly resolution and the OSCE Lisbon summit decision. All these documents envision settling the conflict within Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity," the president said.
Aliyev said, further, that the Moscow declaration also foresees supplementing all stages of a treaty with international guarantees. Azerbaijan has always stated that the dispute could be resolved in stages. In other words, seven Azerbaijani districts around Upper Garabagh, currently under Armenian occupation, must be freed during the first stage. Azerbaijani refugees displaced during the armed conflict in the early 1990s are to return home. Also, the population that is living and will live in the region should be provided with international security guarantees. During the next stage, the legal status of Upper Garabagh is to be determined. The president reiterated that determining the residents` status must comply with his country`s territorial integrity.
Upper Garabagh has been occupied by Armenia since a 1994 ceasefire ended hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about one million Azeris from their homes. Years of peace talks have brought few tangible results.
However, Armenia has reiterated its claims to Upper Garabagh, with President Serzh Sarkisian declaring that the region does not belong to Azerbaijan.
"Garabagh will not be Azerbaijani territory. There is absolutely no legal ground for this," he announced during a meeting with representatives of the pro-government Prosperous Armenia party.
Sarkisian also said that the most important issue was that "the people of Garabagh" do not want their territory to be transferred to Azerbaijan`s control.
"Garabagh is our land, and it`s invaluable. Therefore, bargaining on this issue is out of place," the Armenian leader said.
Baku, in turn, stated that Sarkisian`s statement is baseless.
"Azerbaijan has not put its land up for sale. The people of Upper Garabagh are non-existent, and a non-existent nation cannot have any desires," Khazar Ibrahim, the spokesman for the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry said, emphasizing that the population of the region consists of both Azerbaijani and Armenian communities.
He said Sarkisian`s statement indicated that Yerevan was sticking to its policy of aggression.
Ibrahim added that the OSCE Minsk Group - a team of diplomats brokering a settlement to the Garabagh conflict - must respond to this statement.
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