Details added (first version posted on 12:04)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 18
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
The OSCE Minsk Group must put pressure on the Armenians to put an end to their illegal, criminal activity, Chairman of the "Azerbaijan Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh Region of Azerbaijan" Public Association Tural Ganjaliyev said.
Ganjaliyev made the remarks in Baku at a round table entitled "Karabakh is Azerbaijan!" held at the Center for the Analysis of International Relations, Trend reports on Oct. 18.
Ganjaliyev stressed that the community continues to work actively and intensively holds meetings both inside and outside the country.
“We meet with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for the second time,” the chairman said.
“The recent meeting was held yesterday,” Ganjaliyev added. “The co-chairmen made a statement immediately after the meeting. The fact that the Azerbaijani community has been indicated in the statement as an interested party shows that the Armenians’ falsified claims are not accepted.”
“We, that is, the Azerbaijani community, are an interested party, so our meeting with co-chairmen greatly disturbed the Karabakh separatists,” the chairman said. “While putting forward various reasons and claims, they cannot bear that in their statement the co-chairmen indicated the Azerbaijani community."
Ganjaliyev emphasized that it is necessary to become more active in the information war, negotiations and discussions.
"Yesterday, we conveyed to the co-chairmen all our demands and wishes, stressing that we repeatedly appealed to meet with the Armenian community for conducting a dialogue,” the chairman said. “The OSCE Minsk Group repeatedly conveyed this message to them, but the Armenian community has not yet responded to it.”
“The entire international community recognizes that both communities must sooner or later live together in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region,” Ganjaliyev said. “The Armenian community is well aware of this. But its reluctance to coexist testifies to the unconstructive intentions. We openly told the co-chairs about this, stressing that if the Armenian community lived together with us within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in the past, then why is it refusing from dialogue?”
“This once again shows the unconstructive position of the Armenian leadership and the illegal regime as well as the fact that they are an aggressive side,” the chairman said. “We also informed the co-chairs about the situation in connection with the destroyed cultural and historical monuments and religious heritage in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, demanding that an end must be put to this situation.”
“We protested regarding the completed 'repair' of the Govharagha mosque, which is the main symbol of Shusha city,” Ganjaliyev said. “We once again told the co-chairs that this is a step aimed at falsifying the Azerbaijani history and thart they should put pressure on the Armenians to put an end to their illegal, criminal activity.”
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, 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 Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.