Italy, Venice, June 5 / Trend, I.Kashchey /
One should not allow those, who do not want peace and stability in the South Caucasus region, to frustrate the peace process on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said.
"It is the responsibility of politicians to find a common language and points of cooperation between the countries and peoples," Mammadyarov told media on Saturday in Venice.
The minister said that Azerbaijan has always stood for contacts and cooperation between the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan is one of the first who initiated these contacts, Mammadyarov said.
He stressed the well-known initiative of the ambassadors in Moscow on trips through the territory of Azerbaijan to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Russian President's Special Envoy for Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoi, who is the initiator of shuttle diplomacy, Azerbaijani and Armenian ambassadors to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu and Armen Smbatian twice visited Nagorno-Karabakh, Yerevan and Baku within this diplomacy in 2008-2009. The delegation included representatives of the intellectuals from Azerbaijan and Armenia.
"The philosophy here is very simple. One can not just take its territory and fly with it on Mars or the Moon. In any case, it is necessary to find a common language with its neighbors, and as soon as possible. This will be beneficial to the economy and ordinary people, " the minister said.
Mammadyarov said that taking into account the data on Azerbaijan and Armenia, not to mention the Nagorno-Karabakh, which is generally in a dilapidated state, there is no other choice. However, the whole process must be carefully considered, as provocateurs will always appear, he said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.