Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 25 /Trend, M.Aliyev/
The main target of Azerbaijan is to achieve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement through negotiations and within the country's territorial integrity, the head of the Foreign Relations Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Novruz Mammadov said in an interview to the official website of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party.
"There is a concept of international law, based on which the conflicts must be resolved. Today the world community recognizes and supports Azerbaijan's position, based on international law. An obvious example for this is the document signed by 28 NATO member states that supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Of course, today most countries worldwide support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. All these testify that the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are conducted on the basis of the above-mentioned principles," said Mammadov.
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 seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the United States - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
According to Mammadov, if the Armenians think deeply, a fair solution to this conflict will be beneficial for Armenia itself.
"Intensive negotiations to resolve the conflict have been conducted since the beginning of this year. Co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group - Russia - demonstrates the highest activity. Organizing the recent meetings confirms this. Over recent period, the OSCE has also demonstrated activity in contributing to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. The chairman of the organization acts for the prompt settlement of the conflict within the international law. Today the world community supports the conflict settlement within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. However, unconstructive position of Armenian leadership prevents its solution," said the top state official.
According to Mammadov, the OSCE summit in Astana should also express specific categorical position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"In the name of "Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe" the word "security" refers directly to the South Caucasus. But, unfortunately, I believe that the OSCE, which has charged the co-chairs of mediating in the conflict resolution, does not express a categorical position on this issue. This large organization should take serious steps to achieve its goals, adopt documents and increase the pressure on Armenia in order to ensure security in the Caucasus," said Mammadov.
The OSCE summit will be held in Astana on Dec. 1-2 and will bring together presidents and prime ministers from 56 OSCE member countries and 12 OSCE partner countries, as well as the heads of 68 international organizations.
The summit has been held six times since the organization's inception in 1975. The last was held in Istanbul in 1999.
Mammadov said that today the Armenian president considers the possibility of refusal from attending the OSCE summit.
"But I think that in any event, he will attend the summit. Because refusing from attending the summit, which forms the geopolitical panorama of the world, truly can become a collapse for the Armenian president and the diplomacy of this country. I believe that the Armenian president is forced to attend the OSCE Astana summit. In general, all these are connected with the fact that the Armenian leadership has put itself into a quandary, with its adventurist, groundless and unconstructive position. Indeed, today the Armenian leadership has brought the country into a political and diplomatic impasse, and can not find way out of it," said Mammadov.
Mammadov said that the United States, as a reliable and strong partner of the organization and as a state, which plays a special role in ensuring peace and security in the world, must also express its categorical position.
"Of course, the reception hosted by the mayor of a city in the United States in honor of the "president" of the unrecognized "republic" does not conform to the spirit of relations between Azerbaijan and the U.S. Because this process is listed as unacceptable under international law. Naturally, there should not be such cases. We want an active U.S. participation in the process of restoring justice and strengthening the principles of international law. Of course, we expect this position from the U.S. and the OSCE summit," said Mammadov.