Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The goal of the Armenian side is to extend the process of negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution and maintain the status quo.

President Ilham Aliyev made the remark at a meeting with a delegation led by European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus Herbert Salber on September 30.

Noting that a number of events have happened in the region and the world since the last visit of Salber to Azerbaijan, President Aliyev emphasized the importance of an exchange of views on these issues.

The EU envoy last visited Azerbaijan in late April and discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the country’s high-ranking officials.

President Aliyev further said that the settlement of the dispute is one of the most important factors for the regional stability.

“Yerevan’s goal is to preserve the status quo in the long-lasting conflict,” he noted.

President Aliyev said the long-term status quo is unacceptable, adding that this has repeatedly been stated by the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries.

Touching upon the developments on the line of contact, the president noted that the Armenian side involved Azerbaijan in provocation. He stressed that this was the tactics of the Armenian side, adding that the international mediators do not take this conflict for serious.

The situation on the frontline remained tense during past several days as the Armenian military continues to break the ceasefire using large-caliber machine guns. Frequent shelling by the Armenian military has put the life of the residents of Azerbaijan’s frontline settlements in danger causing casualties.

Azerbaijani civilian Bahram Baghirov was killed in the shelling of villages of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam region by Armenian military on the night of September 26. Moreover, four Azerbaijani servicemen were killed during the heavy battles past several days.

Touching upon the Azerbaijan-EU relations, President Aliyev said the biased, anti-Azerbaijani position of some circles of the European Union was unacceptable.

Salber, for his part, said his visit to Azerbaijan would create a good opportunity for discussing the issues related to the current state of relations between the EU and the country, as well as the conflict in the region.

The sides also exchanged views over the current state and prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union, and the issues related to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

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. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

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

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