Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 7 / Trend, M. Aliyev /
The OSCE Minsk Group member countries' activity on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict cannot be considered satisfactory, Head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev said addressing the international conference "20 Years of Independence: achievements and challenges in progressive, fair and dynamic state-building".
"Despite maintenance of a situation, which is far from observance of international legal norms, we are witnessing the international community's silence. In the eyes of the entire international community these states have not taken any action to stop the Armenian aggression and liberate Azerbaijani territories from occupation for many years," Mehdiyev said.
He said the Azerbaijani people have long realized that behind the scenes these states protect Armenia's occupation policy.
"The OSCE Minsk Group member countries should be aware that the Azerbaijani people's patience limit is not so large and it losses its patience. At the same time, as the history of the twentieth century shows, the international community has never recognized the puppet states created as a result of aggression, and struggled with them. Otherwise, the world order, protection of international peace and security would be out of the question," Mehdiyev said.
He said the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh remains a major threat to the future fair society that nations want to build, and to security.
"The international community must increase its efforts, guided by the rule of international law and force Armenia to fulfill its international obligations.
Nagorno-Karabakh residents are Azerbaijani citizens. Azerbaijan, known by its progressive position in the Council of Europe, along with ensuring protection of national unity around common and universal values and ideas, recognizes national minorities' rights with all their peculiarities," Mehdiyev said.
He said everyone in Azerbaijan is free to define his ethnicity and develop inherent peculiarities.
"A nation reflects the unity of all citizens living within the state, regardless of language, religious and ethnic difference. The Armenians born and residing in Nagorno-Karabakh in accordance with the commitments undertaken by Azerbaijan towards the UN and the Council of Europe, and within the Azerbaijani legislation, are free to live and enjoy the rights granted by the Azerbaijani Constitution. However, aggression and cooperation are incompatible," Mehdiyev said.
He said Armenia's occupation policy has isolated it from the regional projects and led the country's economy to the grave situation.
"Armenian population facing hardships leave the country in a mass. However, today Azerbaijan successfully continues economic strategy, started in 1994," Mehdiyev said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
