Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend S.Agayeva / Statements made by the Armenian senior officials that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be firstly defined during the negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement are unconstructive and may bring harm to the efforts of the parties involved, said the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov. "If the Armenian side again begins proceeding from the previous position that firstly the status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be defined, it will not correspond with the discussions' purpose," Mammadyarov said.
According to the Minister, the Armenian and Azerbaijanni sides and Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have repeatedly stated that firstly the Armenian Armed Forces should be withdrawn from the occupied Azerbaijani lands. In addition, it needs to bring a peacekeeping contingent, rehabilitate the territory (Nagorno-Karabakh), restore infrastructure, return internally displaced persons to their Native Lands, and only after it, the status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be considered.
Such statements of the Armenian senior officials are unconstructive and may result in the cancellation of progress made during the talks held up to now, the Minister said.