Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend S.Agayeva / Azerbaijan's independent politician Rasim Musabeyov considers it inaccurate to expect a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict before and even after the presidential elections in Armenia.
"The settlement of the conflict depends not on the replacement of the Head of Armenia, but on change in Armenia's policy," Musabeyov said in an interview with Trend.
Highlighting the immense work of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, who testify that the peaceful agreement is almost ready, Musabeyov stressed that such a case has already taken place in history. In 1996-1997 the conflicting sides not only devised a peaceful agreement but also the former Presidents of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, and of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, even announced their agreement on the gradual plan. But nothing was achieved as a result, the politician said.
"I have little hope that currently the work of the co-chairs will bring concrete results. If after the elections the Armenians continue their previous ambitious plans with regards to Azerbaijan, the conflict will not be resolved," Musabeyov said.
Commenting on the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza said that the peaceful agreement is almost ready and several issues remain unsettled. The politician said that if these issues will be dealing with the existence or non-existence of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, it will prevent the implementation of all previously reached agreements.
Under the current situation Azerbaijan does not expect large-scale changes in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, said the Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Araz Azimov, commenting on the results of the recent visit of the OSCE Minsk Group to Azerbaijan.
"I do not believe we can obtain any progress in the conflict settlement from the current government of Armenia," he said.
The Deputy Minister once again confirmed the position of Baku on the peaceful settlement saying that Azerbaijan is ready to support the efforts of the mediators of the Minsk Group and intends to continue the settlement talks within the Prague process. "It would be unfortunate to lose the results achieved within the Prague process," he said.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988 due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenia has occupied 20% of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.