BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 2
Trend:
The visit of the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, his meetings with the so-called representatives of the illegal regime, a visit to the occupation forces of his country on the contact line of the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan is another clear evidence that Armenia is responsible for the military occupation of the Azerbaijani lands and exercises control over the occupied territories, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva told Trend.
According to Abdullayeva, these steps of Prime Minister Pashinyan, who recently claimed that Armenia allegedly could not make decisions for Nagorno Karabakh, confirmed that in fact Armenia is a direct participant in the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict.
"So Pashinyan, whose son is in military service in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, who personally gets acquainted with the current situation, visiting the armed forces of Armenia in our occupied territories, makes plans by meeting with representatives of the illegal regime must stop with the excuses and directly participate in making decisions at the negotiating table," Leyla Abdullayeva said.
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.