Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 31
Trend:
Armenia continues to occupy the territories of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts, in flagrant violation of international law and the UN Security Council resolutions, said Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
Mammadyarov made the remarks during his interview with Egypt’s Middle East News Agency (MENA).
As a direct impact of massive displacement of people from their places of origin, close to one million refugees and IDPs continue to be deprived of their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms, said the minister.
Azerbaijan has made it clear on numerous occasions that the unlawful presence of Armenia’s armed forces in the occupied Azerbaijani territories is the major destabilizing factor with the potential of escalation at any time with unpredictable consequences, and is the main cause of tensions and incidents in the conflict zone, he noted.
The minister added that instead of engaging in negotiations in good faith, Armenia demonstratively disrupts any attempt to settle the conflict by peaceful means.
“In total disregard of the demands of the UN Security Council and in flagrant violation of international law, Armenia refuses to withdraw its troops from Azerbaijan, prevents the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani forcibly displaced persons from returning to their homes, and tries to further consolidate the status quo,” he said.
Mammadyarov noted that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs – the US, Russia and France – at the level of their presidents have repeatedly stated that the status-quo is unacceptable and unsustainable.
Moreover, Armenia frequently resorts to armed provocations trying to divert attention from the core, substantive issues of the peace process to technical aspects of the ceasefire, he said.
Most recently, in early April 2016, Armenia conducted large-scale attacks against the civilian population of Azerbaijan, noted the minister, adding that Armenia subjected the densely populated areas of Azerbaijan, including schools, hospitals and places of worship, to intensive fire with heavy artillery and large-caliber weapons.
With all these, Armenia continues to challenge and tries to undermine the efforts of international community, including the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, aimed at reaching a breakthrough at the peace talks and getting Armenia’s troops out of sovereign lands of Azerbaijan, said Mammadyarov.
He added that the sooner Armenia reconciles with this reality and withdraws its armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, the earlier the conflict will be resolved, and Armenia and its population will benefit from the prospects of cooperation and economic development.
“We are thankful to the international community, including Egypt for the firm position in supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and the settlement of the conflict based on these principles according to the UN Security Council resolutions through the negotiations,” noted the minister.