Armenia bears responsibility as an occupying country – Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 8

Trend:

Armenia exactly is the side in negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that bears and will further bear the responsibility as an occupying country, said Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, speaking to Trend Apr. 8.

He was commenting on statements of the Armenian officials who claimed that the unrecognized regime in Nagorno-Karabakh is allegedly a party to the negotiations.

"It is Armenia that occupied Azerbaijan's territories by force in contravention of the UN Charter and the principles of international law," he said. "Armenian armed forces are illegally present in the occupied Azerbaijani territories."

"Just like in other international documents on the conflict, Armenia's responsibility as an occupying side was once again confirmed in a judgment passed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the case titled 'Chiragov and others versus Armenia'," said Hajiyev.

"The judgment stated that Armenia, through its military presence, has been involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from the very first days; Armenia's military support has been and remains a crucial factor in the occupation of territories and control over them," he said. "Thus, Armenia has control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts, including the Lachin district."

Hajiyev further said Armenia has established the so-called regime in the occupied lands to cover up the aggression and occupation against Azerbaijan and to mislead the international community.

"There are Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region and Baku has always supported the establishment of contacts between these communities," said Hajiyev.

He noted that the April 5 ceasefire agreement was reached by the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.