Azernews.Az

The Armenian former foreign minister's statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict voiced in Baku does not reflect reality, executive secretary of the ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan party Ali Ahmadov told media on Thursday.

Raffi Hovannisian arrived in the Azerbaijani capital to attend the seventh General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP). He told media about the importance of recognising the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Hovannisian's statements are beyond the view of the international community on the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ahmadov said.

"No matter what Armenian former Foreign Minister has said, the UN, authoritative European organisations and the international community as a whole, as well as the OSCE Minsk Group and its co-chairmen dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, have repeatedly stressed the facts on Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani lands and openly declared their recognition of Azerbaijani territorial integrity," he said. "All this proves the Armenian former foreign minister's comments are an unfounded and baseless ridiculous statement."

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia leveled territorial claims against the neighboring country. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijani land since a fragile ceasefire was signed in 1994 following the brutal war.

Russia, France and the U.S., which co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group, are brokering peace talks. The negotiations have been mostly fruitless so far.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on a withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.