Baku, Azerbaijan, October 1
By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:
After the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the CIS summit in Dushanbe, it has become clear once again that the policy and rhetoric demonstrated by the Armenian side up to now is nothing more than populist speeches aimed at the domestic audience, the Head of the Ombudsman Office, Philosophy Doctor in Law Aydin Safikhanli told Trend October 1.
He noted that the official Yerevan, having already abstained from putting forward the illegal regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories as a party to the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict, has realized that the negotiations should be conducted only between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
"The opinions put forward earlier by the new leadership of Armenia on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict do not correspond to the norms and principles of international law or the UN Charter," Safikhanli said, recalling Pashinyan's speech at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly.
He noted that only subjects of international law can participate in the process of solving international problems and conflicts, and the countries recognized by the UN are the main and primary subjects of international law.
"The Azerbaijani side has repeatedly called on the international community to put pressure on Armenia so that the latter would act in accordance with international law, and would implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The new leadership of Armenia should understand that the sooner the renunciation of territorial claims, the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territories takes place, the quicker the peace will be restored in the region, and the prospects for development will open for Armenia. The establishment of peaceful and neighborly relations is impossible without respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of neighboring states," said Safikhanli.
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.