BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 7. A meeting of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, President of the European Council Charles Michel and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in Prague is considered a crucial step towards peace in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijani MP Soltan Mammadov told Trend.
According to the MP, the statement adopted on the meeting results serves the interests of Azerbaijan, thereby providing for the acceleration of the peace agreement signing process.
He noted the principles put forward by Azerbaijan during the peace talks are based on international law. The country's policy envisages the establishment of peace, security, and cooperation in the region.
"After the second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan demonstrated the political will to normalize relations with Armenia and came up with numerous initiatives and proposals. However, the opposite side was trying in every way to slow down the peace process. But the war created a completely new situation in the region," said the MP.
Mammadov added that following the relevant statement, Azerbaijan and Armenia confirmed their commitment to the UN Charter and the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991 through which both countries recognized each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. This is one of the fundamental issues that Armenia has been trying to evade for a long time on one pretext or another.
"The provision on mutual recognition of each other's sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of international borders, and political independence is one of the five basic principles put forward by Azerbaijan for the peace process. This issue in the statement is evidence of the agreement over one of the essential components of peace negotiations. This also confirms that the Karabakh issue will no longer be a subject of discussion in the Azerbaijan-Armenia talks. President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan is not going to discuss it with any international player," Mammadov stressed.
The MP talked about the favorable conditions created in the South Caucasus, as well as Azerbaijan's proposal to appreciate this opportunity and open a new page in the history of the region.