Baku, Azerbaijan, August 11
Trend:
Given the hostilities by the reconnaissance and sabotage groups of Armenia's occupation troops and the recent bloody clashes in the conflict zone, the meeting of Azerbaijani, Russia and Armenian presidents in Sochi was necessary, the head of Public and Political Issues Department of Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov said in his interview with AzerTAc news agency.
He was commenting on the results of the Sochi meeting held on Aug.10 between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
He stressed that in reality, Putin's initiative, first of all, can be regarded as an initiative to create peace aimed at restoring the violated ceasefire.
"The Russian president's speech well shows that as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group and the region's largest state, his country is well aware of its mission in South Caucasus - the responsibility for peace and stability."
The top official underscored that Russia is also well aware of the negative impact of the military conflict between the states, which can implicitly affect the entire Caucasus region.
Hasanov stressed that during the bilateral and trilateral talks, Putin paid special attention to the restoring and maintaining the ceasefire, the peaceful resolution of the conflict through negotiations, and establishing the atmosphere of trust between the parties.
"On the other hand, Russian president's assessment of the conflict as 'the factor harming the positive dynamics of the processes' can be regarded as the positive approach of this country to the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in the shortest possible time."
"Russia's position can be generally expressed as follows: the current status quo should be peacefully eliminated through negotiations in a short time," the top official added.
The department head stressed that this is the 12th meeting between the presidents held at the direct initiative of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries.
"Of course, positive results are expected from each meeting. As it was emphasized during the meeting, the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has gained the 'status' of one of the most protracted conflicts in the world."
He underscored that throughout more than 20 years this conflict have not only disturbed the peace in Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus, but also threatened the regional peace and security in the entire Eurasian region.
"Therefore, such meetings held in various formats, especially as part of the direct dialogue between the presidents always have some impact," Hasanov added.
"As always, President Aliyev stressed at this meeting that Azerbaijan is making efforts most of all for the peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the restoration of lasting regional peace in the South Caucasus," Hasanov added. "At the same time, as an important condition, President Aliyev stressed the implementation of the four UN resolutions on the unconditional liberation of the occupied territories, the return of refugees and internally displaced persons home and the importance of the restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity."
"Proceeding from the UN resolutions during the meeting in this format, conducted with the participation of the Russian president, President Aliyev for the first time called Armenia as an occupying country and stressed the unconditional withdrawal of this country from the occupied territories as the most important condition," he said.
Hasanov stressed that regarding the Armenian president's position, the "bag of arguments" of this country in the negotiations and at this meeting, as always, was empty.
"The "arguments" put forward by President Sargsyan against the UN well-known resolutions on the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and the elimination of the consequences of this occupation, had no grounds," he said.
"President Sargsyan's position consisted of "a bouquet of duplicity" and did not reflect the reality," he said. "The accusations of Azerbaijan of "non-compliance" of any condition and the complaints to the Russian president recalled "the plaintive petitions" and denunciations made by petty vassals to the Russian Tsar during the empire period."
"How can we call the situation when Azerbaijan is accused of anything given the four unfulfilled UN resolutions? Hasanov stressed.
"Regarding the general results of the talks, according to the analysts, the results of the Sochi meeting, in general, can be viewed as positive," he said. "The restoration of direct communication at the presidential level in nine months, as well as the meetings held in other formats, will have a positive impact on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."
"Sargsyan's previous and current statements openly show that Armenia is led by people with extremist thinking," he said.
Hasanov was commenting on Serzh Sargsyan's statements for the Armenian press after the meeting.
"If you remember, in one of his interviews in early 2000s he admitted that by committing the genocide in Khojaly, the Armenians carried out a punitive action against the Azerbaijani people," Hasanov added. "But Sargsyan forgets that it is not the beginning of 1990s of the last century now and Azerbaijan has been changed. In the same statement, Sargsyan admits that Azerbaijan has the economic and military power. We would like to inform Armenia that if the Armenian regime wants to continue tempting its destiny, let it continue its aggressive policy."