BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 10
Trend:
The status quo has been changed, and no one can impose their conditions to Azerbaijan, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev said.
Hajiyev made the statement during a briefing held on Oct.10, Trend reports.
He noted that the ongoing military operations caused great damage to the Armenian economy. “Prior to that, Armenia was speaking the language of dictatorship and setting its conditions”, said the president’s assistant.
"The ceasefire isn’t peace, and the ceasefire achieved in Moscow is a humanitarian ceasefire. Armenia asked for a humanitarian ceasefire. Our efforts in the military and diplomatic spheres will continue. Further activities taken should be based on specific details,” he pointed out.
“The Minsk Group should take concrete steps to make the Armenian troops withdraw from Azerbaijani territories," Hajiyev said.
“Azerbaijan doesn’t make territorial claims to any state, and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be restored,” added the president’s assistant.
Foreign Ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia adopted a joint document following consultations in Moscow.
The text of the document said that in response to the appeal of Russian President Vladimir Putin and in accordance with the agreements of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the parties agreed on the following steps:
"1. A ceasefire is declared from 12:00 on October 10, 2020 for humanitarian purposes for the exchange of prisoners of war and other detained persons and bodies of the dead, mediated and in accordance with the criteria of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
2. The specific parameters of the ceasefire regime will be agreed upon additionally.
3. The Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, on the basis of the basic principles of settlement, are starting substantive negotiations with the aim of reaching a peaceful settlement as soon as possible.
4. The parties confirm the invariability of the format of the negotiation process".
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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.