Azerbaijani FM says Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is doable

Europe is a plea, because it has a special representative who is addressing conflicts not only between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also in Transdniestria and Georgia, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said in an interview to EU Reporter in anticipation of EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council.

"Europe is looking quite intensively on how the development is going on within the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the settlement of this conflict. Unfortunately, we cant achieve breakthrough so far, I believe in 'so far' because I also believe that the conflict is doable, " the minister said.

The major mediators, Minsk Group co chairs - U.S., France and Russia, are three big countries permanent members of UN Security Council, who voted in support of four UN Security Council resolutions in 1993, with understanding how it should be settled, the minister said.

One of the major parts of Security Council resolutions is a strong demand on unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the minister said.

"What we try to explain to our Armenian neighbors is the fact that the situation of status quo, which exists today, is unacceptable. This is, by the way, also done by the presidents of the three co-chair countries," Mammadyarov said.

Speaking on the possible replacement of France as OSCE Minsk group co chair, Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijan's foreign policy is not intervening to the domestic issues of other entity or state, and it is up to the members of the European Parliament how to decide.

"For me, as for foreign minister of the country, territories of which is under occupation, the most important is the result," the minister said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. - are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.


/Trend/