Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend S.Ilhamgizi, E.Huseynov / The Head of the Foreign Relations Department of the Executive Apparat of Azerbaijan President, Novruz Mammadov, informed Trend on 5 July that the statement of the Head of the OSCE Parliamentary, Goran Lenmarker, that the agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is ready to be signed is based on common process of peaceful negotiations.
He stressed that the heads of the international organizations follow the process of the peaceful negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and speeches of the Presidents and Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. Their statements deal with not one meeting, but whole process of peaceful negotiations. "The separate statements during the negotiations were that the sides are near to sign an agreement. Despite that the recent meetings of the Presidents yielded no results, the international organizations believe that next time an agreement will be signed between the sides," Mammadov said.
The Department Chief said that the position of Azerbaijan in the negotiations is clear - the conflict should be resolved gradually within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by providing high status to Nagorno-Karabakh. According to Mammadov, the international community is satisfied with this position.
"The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, stressed that the lands of Azerbaijan have been occupied and Armenian armed forces should release them. The report of Goran Lenmarker also highlights the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh territory of Azerbaijan and seven regions surrounding it. The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Rene Van Der Linden, also states this fact. Now the international community accepts this fact. All these are means of pressure on Armenia. Armenia should understand it," Mammadov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries appeared in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. Since 1992 to the present time, these territories have been under Armenian occupation. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA) are holding peaceful negotiations.