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Baku expects Yerevan to take constructive position in next rounds of negotiations

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 19 September 2009 11:33 (UTC +04:00)

U.S., Washington, Sept.19 / Trend N.Bogdanova /

Baku expects Yerevan to take a constructive position in the next rounds of negotiations on the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijani President's special envoy for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Deputy Minister of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov told TREND's Washington correspondent that the negotiations are based on the principal of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the position of Baku on this will not change.

Azimov said that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be adjusted only within the international laws.

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.

Azimov added that in the next rounds of negotiations Baku expects Yerevan to take a constructive point of view.

Answering the question about opening the borders between Armenia and Turkey, Azimov said that the Turkish leaders including President Gul, Prime Minister Erdogan and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmad Davudoglu have declared for a number of times that the borders will not be opened until the occupied territories of Azerbaijan were freed and Baku continues to trust these statements.

On Aug. 31, Turkey and Armenia in the talks mediated by Switzerland reached an agreement to launch "internal political consultations" to sign the Protocol on Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and Protocol on Development of Bilateral Relations, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

"Political consultations will be completed within six weeks, and following that two protocols will be signed and submitted to the two countries' parliaments for approval," the ministry said.

"Both protocols create a base for normalizing bilateral relations," the Turkish Foreign Ministry stressed.

Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed since 1993.

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