FM Mammadyarov: Azerbaijan never renounced negotiation process

/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan has never renounced the negotiation process for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Elmar Mammadyarov, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister made the remark during the briefing following the talks with his Maltese counterpart George William Vella in Baku.

Commenting on the remarks made by Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan about the conditions for resuming the negotiations, the foreign minister said that it is impossible to achieve peace by putting forward conditions.

"If anyone in Yerevan believes that it will be possible to continue the negotiation process and maintain the status-quo by putting forward conditions, he is mistaken," he added.

Mammadyarov believes that with its actions, Armenia puts under threat the ceasefire agreement reached in 1994 and 1995.

“Armenians should understand that it is impossible to resolve the conflict by military means. But it does not mean that the talks can continue eternally,” the FM said.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Peace talks over the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that emerged over Armenia’s territorial claims against Azerbaijan are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. However, as Armenia continues to follow non-constructive position, the negotiations have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the co-chair countries over 20 years.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister further stressed that Baku firmly adheres to its position.

"The UN Security Council’s resolutions should be fulfilled unconditionally. First of all, Armenian armed forces should be withdrawn from the occupied territories," he said. "Only after this, the negotiations can start on other remaining issues, such as the return of the IDPs [to their homes], restoration of communications and so on," he said.

Mammadyarov also said that the meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group is expected.

“We plan to meet with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in one of European cities, likely in Brussels, next month,” Mammadyarov said, adding that the exact date and time will be determined later.

Last time Azerbaijan’s Mammadyarov met the OSCE MG in late 2015, as part of 70th Session of the UN General Assembly. The sides discussed the negotiations process to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.