Azernews.Az

ASTANA – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has said that if Azerbaijan uses force to resolve the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, his country "would have no choice but to recognize" so-called independence of the separatist regime operating in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Novosti Kazakhstan news agency reported.

The separatist regime in the Nagorno Karabakh region, which remains under Armenian occupation along with seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts, proclaimed so-called independence at the time of the Soviet collapse in 1991. This "independence," which is a blatant violation of international law, has not been recognized by any country.

Addressing the OSCE summit in Astana on Thursday, Sargsyan claimed that Azerbaijan is not interested in a settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and its sole purpose is to inflict damage to Armenia as much as possible.

"Nagorno Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan," he alleged. "Azerbaijan does not have enough legal, historical and moral rights to this. Nagorno Karabakh has gained the status of self-administration in accord with the [former] USSR’s laws and international norms."

Sargsyan also claimed that Azerbaijan is failing to relinquish its bellicose rhetoric "instead of seeking constructive methods" for a conflict settlement. "The matter has reached a point when Yerevan is being indicated as Azerbaijan’s historical land, while ‘hachkars’ [gravestones] as samples of Azerbaijani culture."

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told the Astana summit on Wednesday that Armenia is delaying peace talks. He said the country is seeking to maintain the status quo in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and turn peace talks into "a meaningless process", but Baku "will not let that happen". Yerevan tends to head toward an escalation of the conflict, violates the ceasefire and stages military drills in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, President Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory in defiance of international law. OSCE-brokered peace talks have accomplished little so far.