Azerbaijan, Baku, May 23 / Trend, M. Aliyev /
The participation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian community in negotiations can only be ensured after Armenian armed forces leave Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani political scientist, MP Rasim Musabeyov has said today commenting on the statement made by the head of the self-proclaimed "Nagorno Karabakh Republic" Bako Saakian to the Echo of Moscow radio station about the willingness of the Armenian community to participate in the negotiation process.
"As long as the Azerbaijani territory is under the Armenian occupation, the corps of the Armenian armed forces is on the Azerbaijani territory, the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh can not be a side, with which Azerbaijan has to hold negotiations," Musabeyov said.
He said it is a farfetched position, and no one shares it, including the international community.
"Saakian is informed about the course of negotiations by co-chairs in one form or another, and in one form or another his views on the situation are taken into account," Musabeyov stressed.
Commenting on Saakian's concern regarding Azerbaijan's military rhetoric, Musabeyov said even if Azerbaijan will not use military rhetoric, it is a fact that the Azerbaijani territories have been occupied, 600,000 Azerbaijanis have been expelled from Nagorno Karabakh and the war is not over, but is frozen.
"Azerbaijan will never accept this situation and will also prepare for the armed restoration of its territorial integrity. The important thing is that what the concrete situation is and how Azerbaijan reacts to this situation," Musabeyov added.
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.