Azerbaijani official praises Russia’s role in conflict solution
By Sara Rajabova
The meeting of Azerbaijani, Russia and Armenian presidents in Sochi was highly necessary against the background of the hostilities by the reconnaissance and sabotage groups of Armenia's occupation troops and the recent bloody clashes in the conflict zone.
Head of Public and Political Issues Department of Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov made the remark in an interview with AzerTAc state news agency on the results of the Sochi meeting.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met on August 10 to discuss different ways to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Hasanov stressed that Putin's initiative can be regarded as an appropriate way to create peace aimed at restoring the violated ceasefire.
"The Russian president's speech shows that as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group and the region's largest state, Russia is well aware of its mission in South Caucasus - the responsibility for peace and stability," he said.
Hasanov underscored that Russia is also well aware of the negative impact of the military conflict between the states, which can implicitly affect the entire Caucasus region.
He stressed that during the bilateral and trilateral talks, Putin paid special attention to the restoring and maintaining of the ceasefire, the peaceful resolution of the conflict through negotiations, and establishing the atmosphere of trust between the parties.
"On the other hand, Russian president's assessment of the conflict as 'the factor harming the positive dynamics of the processes' can be regarded as the positive approach of this country to the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in the shortest possible time. Russia's position can be generally expressed as follows: the current status quo should be peacefully eliminated through negotiations in a short time," Hasanov said.
He stressed that this was the 12th meeting between the presidents held at the direct initiative of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries. The Azerbaijani and Armenian president met last time in Vienna last November.
"Of course, positive results are expected from each meeting. As it was emphasized during the meeting that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has gained the 'status' of one of the most protracted conflicts in the world," Hasanov said.
He underscored that throughout more than 20 years, the conflict has not only violated the peace in Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus, but also threatened the regional peace and security in the entire Eurasian region.
"Therefore, such meetings which are held in various formats, especially as part of the direct dialogue between the presidents always have some impact on the conflict settlement," Hasanov added.
During the Sochi meeting, President Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan is making efforts for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the restoration of regional peace in the South Caucasus.
President Aliyev also called for the implementation of the four UN resolutions on the unconditional liberation of the occupied territories, the return of refugees and internally displaced persons home and the importance of the restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity at the meeting.
"During the meeting, Aliyev called Armenia an occupying country by referring to the UN resolutions on the conflict. He also called for the unconditional withdrawal of this country from the occupied territories as the most important condition," Hasanov said.
He stressed that the "bag of arguments" of Armenia was empty as always in the negotiations.
"The arguments put forward by President Sargsyan against the well-known UN resolutions on the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and the elimination of the consequences of this occupation had no legal ground. President Sargsyan's position consisted of "a bouquet of duplicity" and did not reflect the reality," Hasanov noted.
He added that Armenia's move to accuse Azerbaijan of being non-compliant and to complain about what it calls Azerbaijan's non-constructive approaches to the Russian president recalled the plaintive petitions and denunciations made by the petty vassals to the Russian Tsar during the empire period."
"How can we call the situation when Azerbaijan is accused of anything given the four unfulfilled UN resolutions?" Hasanov stressed.
Regarding the general results of the talks, Hasanov said the restoration of direct communication at the presidential level in nine months, as well as the meetings held in other formats, will have a positive impact on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Speaking about Armenian president's recent statements after the Sochi meeting, Hasanov said Sargsyan's previous and current statements openly show that Armenian government is led by people with extremist thinking.
"If you remember, in one of his interviews in early 2000s, he admitted that by committing the genocide in Khojaly, the Armenians carried out a punitive action against the Azerbaijani people. But Sargsyan forgets that today is not the beginning of 1990s of the last century and everything has changed. In the same statement, Sargsyan admitted that Azerbaijan has an enormous economic and military power. We would like to inform Armenia that by continuing its aggressive policy, Armenia continues to tempt its destiny," Hasanov concluded.