Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 13 / Trend, K. Zarbaliyeva /
Maintaining the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may cause a new war in the region, Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Social and Political Department Chief Ali Hasanov said told press on Thursday.
"The international community makes every effort for Azerbaijan not to start a war to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said. "However, the Azerbaijani President has repeatedly stated that Azerbaijan can lose all patience. Azerbaijan can not wait for eternal maintenance of the status quo in the conflict. Azerbaijan uses legal and other means to ensure the territorial integrity."
He said that from this point of view, the international community, especially the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, insistently call for changing the current situation, by considering its preservation unacceptable.
"Somebody tries to deter Azerbaijan from using other means," he said. "Azerbaijan is not a militarist country. It does not pretend to anybody's land. Azerbaijan's main purpose is to protect its state sovereignty, to restore territorial integrity and violated rights of citizens to establish peace in the region. Therefore, Azerbaijan is maximally trying to take advantage of the negotiation process not to resort to military actions. However, if the status quo is not changed, Azerbaijan will likely to use its right. It does not intend to make concessions to anyone else."
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.