Azernews.Az

BAKU – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s latest statements indicate that he is seeking to "put an end" to the agreements reached on settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in past years, a spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has said.

Elman Abdullayev was commenting on Sargsyan’s statement stressing the importance of recognizing the so-called independence of the self-proclaimed republic run by ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno Karabakh region.

"The Armenian president, who is calling for continuing the occupation of Azerbaijani territory, is again resorting to means of distortion [of facts]," Abdullayev said. "Instead of reconciliation, Sargsyan is calling on his people to further radicalize, defying the principles indicated in the statements issued by the presidents of the co-chairing countries [of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group], and thus making clear his real policy and intentions, proving once again that he is not seeking peace and is unwilling to back down from his non-constructive stance."

The leaders of the Minsk Group co-chair countries - the United States, Russia and France - had urged to finalize a roadmap of a peace agreement during the June meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan in Kazan mediated by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. However, such a document was not signed, and the parties even traded accusations after the meeting.

Azerbaijan and Armenia waged a brutal war in the early 1990s. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, has been under the occupation of Armenian armed forces since a ceasefire was signed in 1994.

Peace talks are underway on the basis of the Madrid principles, a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs. The Madrid Document covers a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijani control, a future determination of the region’s legal status and the right of internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their homes.