FM spokesman: Yerevan continues its destructive policy

/By Azernews/

By Gunay Camal

Yerevan once again tries to distort the essence of the peace talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev made the remark while talking to local media, further elaborating that after the Vienna meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents, Armenia’s leadership and foreign minister are playing a word game without the elementary diplomatic ethics.

Hajiyev reminded that in the Vienna meeting, Azerbaijan responded positively to the ceasefire proposal with the aim of laying the foundations for serious and constructive negotiations.

"The international community, including the OSCE Minsk Group, believe that the status quo should be changed, Armenian troops should be withdrawn from the occupied Azerbaijani territories,” he said adding that there is an impression that the Armenian Foreign Minister either did not understand the essence of the Vienna talks, or pretends.

“It is not coincidence that the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry after the Vienna meeting, speaking with unsubstantial statements aimed at internal demands, made no mention of a comprehensive peace process, which was the main purpose of the meeting in Vienna,” Hajiyev stressed.

The meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan was held in Vienna on May 16. The Vienna meeting became the first since the renewed hostilities on the contact line of troops in early April.

The presidents reiterated their commitment to the ceasefire and the peaceful settlement of the conflict, and agreed to finalize the OSCE investigative mechanism in the shortest possible time.

The official is sure that Yerevan carries out destructive policy to stop the beginning of an inclusive political process to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in June.

“The Armenian leadership rather than to prepare people to the peace, reinforces the rhetoric of hatred and chauvinism,” he added.

Hajiyev quoted Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov saying: "The talks in Vienna on a phased approach to the settlement of the conflict create the opportunity to start substantive negotiations. These negotiations should begin as soon as possible, the results expected by the people of the region and the international community should be achieved”. "

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day.