Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
Trend:
Armenia's speaking about peace under current conditions is a clear hypocrisy, spokesperson of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend on Feb. 16.
He made the remarks commenting on views about the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the annual "Worldwide Threat Assessment" report of the US Intelligence Community.
Hajiyev said the ongoing occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia continues to be a major threat to regional peace and security.
He noted that Armenia's speaking of peace - in the context of the Armenian armed occupation of Azerbaijani lands, continuation of illegal actions in the occupied territories and attempts of annexation of the territories - is a clear hypocrisy, irresponsibility and unserious approach.
"The heads of state of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries have repeatedly stated that the existing status quo is unacceptable and unstable. To replace the occupation-based status quo, Armenian armed forces should be fully and unconditionally removed from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as required by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and ultimately, the military risk factor for the political solution of the conflict should be eliminated. "
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.