Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 30
Trend:
The statement made by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev during a meeting with the families of martyrs is Azerbaijan’s principled position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva told Trend on Jan. 30.
"This position is based on the well-known resolutions of the UN Security Council, the norms and principles of international law,” she said. “I do not see the need to further comment on this issue."
Abdullayeva was commenting on Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan’s statement. While responding to a question at a recent press conference regarding the Azerbaijani president’s statement that the Azerbaijanis will never reconcile and the Azerbaijani army has demonstrated its power on the battlefield, Mnatsakanyan said that this is "regrettable."
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.