Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27
Trend:
New leadership of Armenia demonstrates reluctance in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by making contradictory statements, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said.
Mammadyarov made the remarks at the Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on “Upholding the UN Charter and the purposes and principles of the NAM: towards a culture of peace” in New York.
“The established principle of the inadmissibility of the use of force for acquisition of territory and the ensuing obligation of non-recognition of situations resulting from serious violations of international law must be applied and enforced universally and unconditionally,” the minister added.
“Azerbaijan’s position with regard to this issue is well known, coming from its experience of facing armed aggression, ethnic cleansing and unlawful foreign military occupation,” he said.
“Regretfully, I don’t have any good news to share concerning the settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he said.
“New leadership of Armenia demonstrates reluctance in the settlement of the conflict by making contradictory and irresponsible statements,” Mammadyarov said. “Such provocative approach will definitely not serve for the positive developments in the negotiations process and will only worsen already fragile situation on the ground.”
“We call upon international community to send a strong message to Armenia to act in accordance with international law and implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions adopted with regard to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict,” the minister added.
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.