BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 6. We proposed to the Armenian side that Azerbaijan and Armenia jointly appeal to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to abolish the Minsk Group, President Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting with the speakers of parliaments of TURKPA member states, Trend reports.
"The Minsk Group was trying to solve the Karabakh problem. In fact, it was only trying to freeze it, and the four resolutions of the UN Security Council were nothing more than a piece of paper. This is why we secured our rights and territorial integrity on the battlefield, by force and within the framework of international law. But it is also true that you must have the strength to be able to defend your rights.
With regard to the Armenian-Azerbaijani process, I can say that we believe that several issues still remain outstanding. One of them is the Constitution of Armenia, which has territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Secondly, an end must be put to Armenia's groundless territorial claims against Azerbaijan and Turkiye. Of course, we have already proposed this to the Armenian side, that Azerbaijan and Armenia should jointly apply to the OSCE and abolish the Minsk Group. There is no need for the Minsk Group and it is not functioning now. We will not allow it to operate de facto. It remains for it to be canceled de-jure, legally, and this will show how sincere Armenia is. If Armenia prefers to maintain the Minsk Group, then their territorial claims against us will be continued," President Ilham Aliyev said.