BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4
By Samir Ali - Trend:
Immediately after the negotiations held between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Geneva through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group, Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan expressed a provocative opinion about bringing "elected representatives of the Artsakh people" to the peace process, thus tried to cast a shadow over the negotiations, Head of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan Tural Ganjaliyev said, Trend reports.
Ganjaliyev made the remark commenting on the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
Ganjaliyev noted with regret that the Armenian side, using such provocative statements during the negotiations, constantly creates obstacles to the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
"Despite the fact that the concept of 'people of Artsakh', which has no foundation, and this has been repeatedly clarified, Armenia continues to raise this issue repeatedly, demonstrating its destructive position. Armenia ignores the opinion of the global community, thereby becoming the object of condemnation," Ganjaliyev said.
"The most significant answer to the ruling circles of Armenia in this matter was given last year by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, saying that the 'concept of the people of Nagorno Karabakh' does not exist, there's only population of Nagorno Karabakh," Ganjaliyev noted.
"Once again, we were convinced of the firmness of the position that the population of Nagorno Karabakh consists of Azerbaijani and Armenian communities, which is reflected in last year's statements by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and in a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his last visit to Baku. This issue is enshrined in the document of OSCE (previously CSCE) of March 24, 1992, Ganjaliyev said.
"The baseless statements of the official circles of Armenia will not be able to prevent the joint habitation of the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno Karabakh within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan. We will return to our lands, restore our violated rights and destroyed heritage," the head of the Azerbaijani community added.
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.