The sincerity of Armenian negotiators is questioned by such clear provocations as a declared intention of Armenian separatists to hold a so-called "constitutional referendum" in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, stated at the 14th meeting of the Council of OSCE Foreign Ministers, Trend reports.
We view the UN General Assembly resolution-sponsored OSCE-led Environmental Assessment Mission to the fire-affected territories of Azerbaijan as a good example of rapid and effective practical reaction to an urgent and complex problem faced by a participating State.
We request the Chairman-in-Office to submit the Mission's Report to the UN General Assembly and its Member-States, and call on the organizations and programmes of the United Nations system to launch a joint process of preparation for a long-term Environmental Operation in the fire-affected lands as it is envisaged by the UNGA resolution, Mammadyarov said.
To my deep regret, I still cannot extend the same level of enthusiasm to the whole process of settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Despite increased activity demonstrated throughout this year by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and the parties involved we have not yet achieved the irreversible solution, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister said.
In addition, he stressed that there is no alternative to finding solution in the framework of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. At the appropriate stage of the settlement process it will be possible to discuss this issue by the whole population of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Proceeding from the standards of democracy, rule of law and human rights, we believe that process of definition of a status shall take place on an equal basis, with direct and full participation of entire population of the region, which are both Armenian and Azerbaijani communities, he stated.
Unfortunately, the sincerity of Armenian negotiators is questioned by such clear provocations as a declared intention of Armenian separatists to hold a so-called "constitutional referendum" in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. This is yet another unconstructive step taken by Armenian side in its attempt to consolidate and camouflage the results of its illegal activities. Azerbaijan shall never accept such illegal acts of the Armenian side, which are based on notorious practice of fait accompli and fully contradict the ongoing efforts to bring durable peace and stability to the region, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister considers.