Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 22
Trend:
Armenia's military drills held in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam district is a serious provocation aimed at undermining the negotiation process over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement, the country’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said.
He made the remarks at a meeting with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier within the framework of the 71st Regular Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the message of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said Sept. 22.
Azerbaijan is ready for substantive negotiations to change the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov noted.
He added that Armenia once again carries out destructive policy in order to hinder the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Development of practical cooperation between Azerbaijan and the OSCE was also discussed at the meeting.
Lamberto Zannier said that the OSCE intends to continue practical cooperation with Azerbaijan.
Mammadyarov, in turn, stressed the expediency of cooperation for the development of transport and energy corridors.
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.