Baku, Azerbaijan, July 23
By Elchin Mehdiyev, Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Azerbaijan's continuing negotiations for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for over 25 years, despite the Armenian occupation, is the biggest concession, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev said at a press conference in Baku on July 23.
Hajiyev was commenting on the statement of Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
He stressed that first of all, the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands must be eliminated.
“During his recent press conference, Pashinyan said that Armenia will inform about concessions on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, only after Azerbaijan does that,” Hajiyev said.
"First of all, the occupation must be stopped and the status quo must be changed to achieve a political solution to the conflict,” he said. “If Armenia is interested in resolving the conflict, it must stop the occupation and fulfill the resolutions of the UN Security Council. Only on such grounds we can obtain a favorable atmosphere for resolving the conflict."
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.
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