Baku urges change in Yerevan’s stance at presidents’ meeting
Azerbaijani
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has said Baku expects a change
in Yerevan’s non-constructive stance at the next round of talks on
the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict between Presidents Ilham
Aliyev and Serzh Sarkisian due in Germany in the coming days.
Azimov told reporters on Thursday that, though Armenia says it is ready for a peaceful solution of the long-standing dispute, its position "shows its moving in the opposite direction."
"If Armenia gives preference to violating Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and separating a part of its land after the co-chairs’ [the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs brokering the peace process] many-year-long efforts, so many meetings and steps taken toward progress that hopes are bound with, while ignoring again the principles and the options offered, then Armenia adheres to an opposite position. So, a change must occur in Armenia’s stance."
According to Azimov, without this change any advances in the conflict settlement are ruled out.
"Azerbaijan’s position is crystal clear. We want the problem to be solved within territorial integrity. And this
stance of Azerbaijan is entirely supported by the international community. It is based upon the norms and principles of international law."
Azimov noted that Azerbaijan "leaves room for compromise" in its position, adding that Baku "is standing in the middle of the bridge and awaiting the opposing side to come there."
"If the Armenian side is ready to discuss compromises within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, we are ready for that too," Azimov said.
The deputy minister pointed out that Yerevan has made a point of returning the agreed issues to the negotiating table, but he did not elaborate which issues have been agreed upon so far. He emphasized, though, that, in any case, liberation of the Armenia-occupied territories of Azerbaijan is one of the components of the conflict resolution. "If occupation does not end, nothing will be possible."
Azimov reiterated that Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts under occupation are integral parts of Azerbaijan and this is not a subject of discussion.
"Vacating the seven districts and returning Azerbaijanis [displaced during the armed conflict in the early 1990s] to Upper Garabagh has been a core in Azerbaijan’s position of principle since the very beginning. Armenia has two choices: the conflict is not settled or, following Azerbaijanis’ return to Upper Garabagh, the region’s status is determined. There is no other choice."
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Despite numerous rounds of OSCE-brokered negotiations, peace talks have been fruitless so far and refugees remain stranded. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees returned home, and only after that could the status of Upper Garabagh be determined within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.*
Azimov told reporters on Thursday that, though Armenia says it is ready for a peaceful solution of the long-standing dispute, its position "shows its moving in the opposite direction."
"If Armenia gives preference to violating Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and separating a part of its land after the co-chairs’ [the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs brokering the peace process] many-year-long efforts, so many meetings and steps taken toward progress that hopes are bound with, while ignoring again the principles and the options offered, then Armenia adheres to an opposite position. So, a change must occur in Armenia’s stance."
According to Azimov, without this change any advances in the conflict settlement are ruled out.
"Azerbaijan’s position is crystal clear. We want the problem to be solved within territorial integrity. And this
stance of Azerbaijan is entirely supported by the international community. It is based upon the norms and principles of international law."
Azimov noted that Azerbaijan "leaves room for compromise" in its position, adding that Baku "is standing in the middle of the bridge and awaiting the opposing side to come there."
"If the Armenian side is ready to discuss compromises within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, we are ready for that too," Azimov said.
The deputy minister pointed out that Yerevan has made a point of returning the agreed issues to the negotiating table, but he did not elaborate which issues have been agreed upon so far. He emphasized, though, that, in any case, liberation of the Armenia-occupied territories of Azerbaijan is one of the components of the conflict resolution. "If occupation does not end, nothing will be possible."
Azimov reiterated that Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts under occupation are integral parts of Azerbaijan and this is not a subject of discussion.
"Vacating the seven districts and returning Azerbaijanis [displaced during the armed conflict in the early 1990s] to Upper Garabagh has been a core in Azerbaijan’s position of principle since the very beginning. Armenia has two choices: the conflict is not settled or, following Azerbaijanis’ return to Upper Garabagh, the region’s status is determined. There is no other choice."
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Despite numerous rounds of OSCE-brokered negotiations, peace talks have been fruitless so far and refugees remain stranded. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees returned home, and only after that could the status of Upper Garabagh be determined within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.*
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