BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 29
Trend:
The Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan firmly condemns Armenia's attempts to distort the essence of the conflict [Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict] and consolidate the consequences of the occupation in any way, Trend reports on July 29 referring to the statement made by the Azerbaijani community.
“Being Armenia's henchman, the so-called "regime", continuing to put forward absurd claims in connection with the format of negotiations, is trying to present itself as a "party to the conflict",” the statement said.
“As we have repeatedly stressed, the format of the negotiations held to resolve the conflict has been enshrined in the OSCE relevant decisions, as well as in the documents adopted during the final meeting in Helsinki in 1992,” the statement said.
“We reiterate that, as it was recognized by the whole world, the parties to the conflict are aggressor Armenia and Azerbaijan which was subjected to the aggression,” the statement said. “Therefore, the "statement" made in its own way by the so-called "formation" is worth less than the paper on which its "text" has been printed.”
“As for the 1994 ceasefire, Armenia used it to consolidate the consequences of the occupation of our territories,” the statement said. “During this period, Armenia by all means did not allow the settlement of the conflict, was engaged in illegal activity in the occupied territories, including illegal settlement.”
“Armenia's repeated attempts to change the format of the negotiations were rejected and firmly condemned by the international community, as well as by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,” the statement said.
“However, the Armenian leadership, distraught with impunity, did not abandon this position, and continued to damage the fragile peace process by its steps serving the policy of annexation,” the statement said. “We witnessed this again on July 12, 2020.”
“It is obvious that Armenia is not interested in the peaceful settlement of the conflict,” the statement said. “But Armenia must know that its occupation of our territories will not last long. We, in any case, will return to the land of the forefathers, we will fully restore our stay there."
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, 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.