Yerevan not interested in peace agreement
By Sara Rajabova
The recent statements by the Armenian foreign minister have once again confirmed this reality that Yerevan is trying to distort facts about the ongoing negotiations to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Hikmet Hajiyev, the acting spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry made the remark commenting on the statements by Edward Nalbandian at a press conference with Latvia’s Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevicson on December 12.
Nalbandian accused Azerbaijan of escalating the tensions on the contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani troops, saying “the extremely delicate language of OSCE Co-Chairs’ statement is not comprehensible and understandable for Azerbaijan.”
“These steps of Armenia serve to deceive and mislead the international community about the realities of the conflict,” Hajiyev said.
Noting that Armenia does not withdraw its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, he said Armenia has not taken any step to start works on the big peace agreement despite calls by the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group.
“The international community and the OSCE Minsk Group are well aware of the lies said by Armenia. Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken so that Armenia can take a constructive position in the negotiation process. The fundamental reason behind the conflict is Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan and continuous occupation of Azerbaijani territories. First of all, the Armenian troops should be withdrawn from the occupied Azerbaijani territories for peaceful settlement of the conflict,” Hajiyev said.
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.
Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. However, the negotiations have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the co-chair countries over 20 years.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on its pullout from the neighboring country's territories.