Azernews.Az

The UN Security Council must put forward a tough stance on its resolutions on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict that are not being enforced, and international groups should heighten pressure on Armenia, Azerbaijani Presidential Administration official Elnur Aslanov told journalists Wednesday.

The UN SC’s four resolutions urging an unconditional pullout of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories have not been implemented so far.

Armenia has been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including the Nagorno Karabakh region, since a war in the early 1990s. A ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but peace talks brokered by the US, Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have been largely fruitless so far.

Aslanov said that as Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stated on Tuesday, Azerbaijan is ready to begin work on a Karabakh peace accord.

"This stems from the fact that Azerbaijan supports peaceful co-existence [with Armenia]," Aslanov said.

He stressed that everyone living in Nagorno Karabakh is an Azerbaijani citizen "and this is de jure the case".

"Azerbaijan honors the rights of all other nations. We are already considering rehabilitation of the post-conflict territories and the future of Nagorno Karabakh, and are ready to exchange views on the principles of co-existence [of Azerbaijanis and Armenians in the region]. This is a graphic example of our adherence to a more constructive, more rational position."

Aslanov said Azerbaijan will not yield a single patch of its land and will not back down from its principles. "This is in line with both the principles of international law and with realities."

Ethnic Armenian separatists in Nagorno Karabakh, backed by Armenia, declared so-called independence in 1991, which has not been recognized by the international community. The region’s status has been a stumbling block in peace talks. Baku says it could be determined within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity only after the occupied districts are freed, while Armenia insists that self-determination is the core principle for a settlement of the long-standing dispute. The OSCE mediators are seeking a solution based on both principles.