Baku, Azerbaijan, June 20
By Samir Ali - Trend:
In case if the Armenian community of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani community is ready for coexistence, head of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh Tural Ganjaliyev said, Trend reports.
He stressed that unless the Armenian community realizes the need for coexistence with the Azerbaijani community, the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict cannot be achieved.
“Therefore, by sending these messages, we are trying to explain that the Armenian community suffers most of all from this conflict because they are being held hostage, actually in captivity,” he added.
Ganjaliyev stressed that the Armenian community does not respond to these messages.
“Unfortunately, they do not respond to our appeals about establishing communication and fostering dialogue,” he said.
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.