Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 1 /Trend, T.Hajiyev/
Edward Nalbandian deceives Armenian people, Azerbaijani political scientist Vafa Guluzade told Trend, commenting on the Armenian foreign minister's statement during his meeting with Armenian students.
"The word that Nalbandian said to the Armenian students is an old song that Armenia has been singing for a long time. Nalbandian is trying to deceive the public opinion in Armenia. But the Armenians are not fools, they perfectly understand everything," said Guluzade.
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.
Such a statement is not accidental at a time when a meeting is expected between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Guluzade believes. "With this behavior, they want to pester the Azerbaijani side. They want Azerbaijan to repeatedly refuse to meeting in order to show that Azerbaijan is a country that does not want to resolve the issue peacefully," said Guluzade.
"The Azerbaijani government, pursuing an active policy, must demonstrate that Armenia does not want to come to any agreement that is based on international law. Armenia acts from a position of an aggressor and wants Azerbaijan to agree with this position," he said.
Azerbaijan and Armenia were twice close to signing a peace agreement, said Guluzade.
"In one case, the Armenian parliament was shot, in another one - Levon Ter-Petrosyan was forced to resign," he 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.