Baku, Azerbaijan, July 12
By Samir Ali – Trend:
Armenia, through its policies in the last two years, has been seeking to prevent progress in the negotiations on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry July 12.
He made the remarks at an event dedicated to the day of Azerbaijani diplomatic service employees.
Hajiyev said Armenia, preventing the progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement, is conducting political provocations.
“For example, Armenia conducted military exercises in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan over the past period,” he stressed.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.