Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 1 /Trend/
Official Baku doubts the sincerity of the Armenian diplomacy, which should stop misleading the world community and its society, spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Elman Abdullayev told Trend.
"It needs to proceed to certain actions and deal with work, since there are certain agreements on the contours of a peace agreement," said Abdullayev.
During a meeting with the students of Yerevan State University, Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian said that Azerbaijan impedes the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"We can also in a similar manner say that the Armenian side has not accepted updated Madrid document for a long time. Azerbaijan has accepted the basic principles of the updated Madrid document, which was proposed by the co-chairman countries of the OSCE Minsk Group. These principles of updated Madrid document are known to all. Firstly Armenia must withdraw its military forces from occupied Azerbaijani territories and Azerbaijani citizens must return to their homes. I want to reiterate that for a long time, the Armenian side has been refusing to accept the basic principles of the updated Madrid document," said Abdullayev.
He said Azerbaijan is interested in constructive negotiations and has always demonstrated constructivism in its position.
"The status quo is unacceptable for Azerbaijan and for the world community, despite that Armenia is doing everything to save it. Azerbaijan supports the continuation of the negotiating process in order to achieve a peaceful settlement within the norms and principles of international law," Abdullayev said.
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.