OFFICIAL BAKU SUPPORTS INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP’S CALLING ON INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO INFLUENCE SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 14 2007
Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend S.Agayeva / The Government of
Azerbaijan considers the International Crisis Group’s report
"Nagorno-Karabakh: risk of war" as a logical response to the
international community. "The experts of the Group accurately assess
the situation around Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
calling on the international community to influence the process,"
said the Head of the Foreign Relations Department of Azerbaijan’s
Presidential Administration, Novruz Mammadov, commenting on the report
of the Crisis Group.
Azerbaijan and Armenia should stop the armed race and re-establish
process of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The international
community and leading countries of the world should strengthen their
efforts to resolve the problem.
Mammadov said that Azerbaijan will never agree that its territories
will law under occupation forever and makes all the best for the
peaceful settlement of the conflict. However, the Government of
Armenia presents obstacles to it and prolongs the time, deceiving
the international community, including the OSCE Minsk Group, he said.
According to him, the president of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated
that Azerbaijan supports the peaceful settlement of the conflict
and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country should
be re-established within the international norms and principles,
otherwise the war will be unavoidable.
"If consider the interests of the international community and leading
countries of the region, they should react the situation and take
more serious measures to resolve the situation," he said.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group (Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.