Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30
Trend:
Armenia's participation in the talks on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is an imitation and aims at deceiving the international community, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani foreign ministry, told Trend March 30.
Hajiyev was commenting on the decision made by the House of Representatives of the US state of Hawaii.
"The Hawaii State Senate rejected two anti-Azerbaijani resolutions," he said. "Despite the radical Armenian lobby in the US was trying to put this issue on the agenda of the Hawaii State Senate March 10, 2016, it failed."
"The leadership of the Hawaii State Senate issued a formal statement on March 11," he said. "In this statement, it expressed support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in accordance with US policy. The leadership also said that the Hawaii State Senate will not accept these resolutions."
Hajiyev said that Armenia's real purpose is the annexation of Azerbaijani territories.
"The US foreign policy is determined by the federal government," he said. "The US supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders."
Hajiyev said that while continuing the provocative and insignificant actions, Armenia and the Armenian lobby in the US after this failure addressed the House of Representatives of the local legislative body of the State of Hawaii.
"All this proves that Armenia's participation in the negotiation process on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is an imitation and aims at deceiving the international community," he said. "Armenia's real purpose is the annexation of Azerbaijani territories."
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 withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.