Baku raps French mediator`s remarks
The Azerbaijani government has issued a terse
response to the French mediator`s recent statements on the
Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
"There is no such notion as `the people of Upper Garabagh`, and the separatist regime cannot join talks on the conflict," the Foreign Ministry spokesman Khazar Ibrahim said while commenting on the OSCE Minsk Group (MG) co-chair Bernard Fassier`s remarks citing "the people of Upper Garabagh" and the self-proclaimed republic`s participation in peace talks.
Ibrahim emphasized that the population of Upper Garabagh includes both Azeris and Armenians, and representatives of both communities are citizens of Azerbaijan.
"After the occupation ends, they will meet their day-to-day needs. There is no `people of Upper Garabagh`. Such statements by an MG co-chair are unacceptable."
Fassier had said during a visit to Yerevan that the regime in Upper Garabagh "was not estranged" from peace talks and that "the people of Upper Garabagh will say their piece in due time." He also said that with the current course of developments, Upper Garabagh should contribute to reaching a solution to the long-standing dispute.
Upper Garabagh is an Azeri region occupied by Armenia since a 1994 cease-fire ended separatist hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about a million Azeris out of their homes. Years of peace talks have brought little tangible result.
Ibrahim said Fassier`s statement runs counter to the declaration on a political settlement of the dispute signed by the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents in Moscow on November 2. "In that declaration, Azerbaijan and Armenia are indicated as [the only] parties in negotiations on the conflict resolution. It contains no clauses on Upper Garabagh`s joining talks."
The spokesman noted that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had co-signed the document, and any statements by a representative of the MG co-chair country defying those of another co-chairing country`s leader were "inconceivable."
"There is no such notion as `the people of Upper Garabagh`, and the separatist regime cannot join talks on the conflict," the Foreign Ministry spokesman Khazar Ibrahim said while commenting on the OSCE Minsk Group (MG) co-chair Bernard Fassier`s remarks citing "the people of Upper Garabagh" and the self-proclaimed republic`s participation in peace talks.
Ibrahim emphasized that the population of Upper Garabagh includes both Azeris and Armenians, and representatives of both communities are citizens of Azerbaijan.
"After the occupation ends, they will meet their day-to-day needs. There is no `people of Upper Garabagh`. Such statements by an MG co-chair are unacceptable."
Fassier had said during a visit to Yerevan that the regime in Upper Garabagh "was not estranged" from peace talks and that "the people of Upper Garabagh will say their piece in due time." He also said that with the current course of developments, Upper Garabagh should contribute to reaching a solution to the long-standing dispute.
Upper Garabagh is an Azeri region occupied by Armenia since a 1994 cease-fire ended separatist hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about a million Azeris out of their homes. Years of peace talks have brought little tangible result.
Ibrahim said Fassier`s statement runs counter to the declaration on a political settlement of the dispute signed by the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents in Moscow on November 2. "In that declaration, Azerbaijan and Armenia are indicated as [the only] parties in negotiations on the conflict resolution. It contains no clauses on Upper Garabagh`s joining talks."
The spokesman noted that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had co-signed the document, and any statements by a representative of the MG co-chair country defying those of another co-chairing country`s leader were "inconceivable."
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