Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 8
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
It is needed to seriously consider the mechanisms of forcing Armenia to peace, including the imposition of sanctions, the head of the press service of Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, Hikmet Hajiyev, told Trend on Apr. 8.
He was commenting on the remarks made by the Armenian foreign minister, Edward Nalbandian, who at a briefing in Moscow once again blamed Baku of turning down the intermediaries' offers.
"I'd like to remind Armenia's foreign minister that the stance of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the settlement of the conflict is based on the Budapest document under the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs' mandate, dated March 23, 1995," he said. "The document is based on the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the resolutions of the UN Security Council."
Hajiyev said the UN Security Council's resolutions demand an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from the occupied territories.
"If the Armenian foreign minister claims that Yerevan's stance corresponds to that of the international community and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, then Armenia should withdraw its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and begin to work on the Great Peace Agreement," said Hajiyev.
"A question arises: why Armenia refuses to work on the Great Peace Agreement and ignores the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs' highest level calls? With his statement, the Armenian foreign minister once again exposed the policy that is pursued by that country's government based on lies and speculations in the negotiation process," said Hajiyev.
"Therefore, it is needed to seriously consider the mechanisms for peace enforcement, including imposition of sanctions, in relation to Armenia, which purposefully violates the negotiation process and tries to keep the status quo, resulting from aggression against Azerbaijan and occupation," said Hajiyev.
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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.