Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

“We want peace in the region and an aggressor to be called an aggressor. Azerbaijan will liberate its territories in any way," said Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijan’s deputy prime minster and chairman of the State Committee for Refugee and IDP Affairs.

He made the remarks during a meeting with Michael Tatham, the director of UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Department of Eastern Europe and Central Asia on August 25.

Hasanov said British delegations have visited Azerbaijan regularly and noted Baku’s appreciation for it.

He went on to say that all of these meetings featured discussions on Azerbaijan's main problem – the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Armenia occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territories after a dispute in early 1990s over Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result of the invasion of Azerbaijan’s historical lands, over one million people became refugees and IDPs.

Hasanov said Azerbaijan faced double standards in the international arena, highlighting that the decisions and declarations of the UN Security Council and other international organizations on the liberation of the occupied territories had not been fulfilled by Armenia.

He stressed that the OSCE Minsk group engaged in settling the conflict, however, its activity has been mostly ineffective.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France, and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group are underway based on a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs dubbed the Madrid Principles. However, negotiations have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the co-chair countries for over 20 years.

Hasanov further noted that Armenia uses the occupied territories for cultivation and transportation of drugs, adding that Azerbaijan appealed this issue to many international organizations, including the UN office in Vienna.

“However, Armenia has ignored the decision of the Vienna office on this issue and continues its dirty deeds,” he said.

Tatham, for his part noting that it was his first visit to Azerbaijan, praised the ongoing development of Baku.

He said Great Britain attached great importance to its relations with Azerbaijan and is interested in enhancing of these ties, adding that the two countries have excellent relations, particularly in commerce and energy.

"Our position is clear: The occupation must be stopped, and refugees and IDPs must be returned to their mother lands. We support the OSCE Minsk Group's activity but it upsets us also that the organizations achieved no serious progresses," Tatham said.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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