Azerbaijan supports the statement by the Presidents of the United States, Russia and France to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, they have made in Los Cabos.

The statement came from chief of the Department for External Affairs of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Novruz Mammadov in an interview with Newtimes.az.

"The time has come for such a statement long before. Therefore, we also welcome the fact that the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs reiterated the intention to resolve the conflict peacefully. Azerbaijan has always given precedence to the principle of peaceful settlement of the conflict and continues to adhere to this position.

At all negotiations within the Minsk Group, our government demonstrated commitment to peaceful resolution of the problem. The leaders of Azerbaijan accept the principles of the Helsinki Final Act in the settlement of the conflict, including with respect to the principle of the nonuse of force", he said.

Mammadov stressed that while Azerbaijan observes the ceasefire agreement, Armenian armed units regularly violate this regime, which leads to the loss of innocent Azerbaijani citizens.

"Azerbaijan does not break and further is not going to continue to violate the ceasefire. Armenian armed forces have often violated the ceasefire and killed innocent people. During the recent visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the South Caucasus Armenia shelled our positions all along the front line.

Azerbaijan responds only in such cases to keep the aggressor from provocative actions. That is, we try to keep Armenia from aggressive intentions. Otherwise, by using a multiple violation of Armenia's ceasefire, we would free our lands from occupation through force", said the head of the presidential administration department.

According to him, official Baku respects the Madrid principles initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group, and is ready to grant the highest status within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity to Nagorno Karabakh.

"We, respecting the Madrid principles, propose to observe them, without taking steps that threaten the territorial integrity of Armenia. We recognize the right of peoples to self-determination. We offer to the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh the highest status in Azerbaijan, allowed by international law.

With regard to harmonization of the basic principles of peaceful settlement of the conflict, the President of Azerbaijan is trying to use all the possibilities in this direction.

President Ilham Aliyev has demonstrated a particular position to meet the requirements expressed in L'Aquila, Deauville, Muskoka and Los Cabos statements of the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Only non-constructive position of the Armenian leadership has led the process to a standstill. Therefore, in our opinion, the attention of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to some points would be a positive step", Mammadov said.

He expressed regret over the fact that the statements of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs make no distinction between the sides of conflict.

"They seem to be identified. After all, Armenia has occupied 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan. That is, Armenia is an occupier. This point must be clearly indicated in the statements and the aggressor should be named.

As a result of the occupation of their homes, more than one million Azerbaijanis live in the status of refugees. However, the statements of the heads of co-chair states don't express a particular position on this issue.

I think with general appeal, it is impossible to force Armenia to take a fair position. This is confirmed by experience. For example, the L'Aquila Statement of the heads of co-chair states from 2009 requires the withdrawal of Armenian troops from regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia has failed to comply with this requirement," the Presidential Administration official said.

According to him, in spite of this, the co-chair countries of OSCE Minsk Group have never sent any warning to Armenia for non-compliance.

"Where is the line of contact? The line of contact lies on the territory of Azerbaijan. Fizuli, Jabrail, Gubadli, Lachin, Kalbajar, Agdam, Agdara and others are the front-line zone. Hence, the Armenian armed forces opened fire on our soldiers and civilians in our country. There are dead and wounded.

That is, in fact, the war is only in the territory of Azerbaijan. And the international community has officially recognized these territories as Azerbaijani. But how can you not take this into account in the statements of conflict resolution, adopted documents and resolutions?" Mammadov wondered.

Using this, he said, Armenia continues to hold the foreign territory under occupation and mislead the world opinion by conducting a propaganda campaign full of slander and disinformation.

"You could say that Armenia every day violates the cease-fire without fearing anything, and then declares to the world that the Azerbaijani side did it. The well placed Armenian diaspora in different countries is doing its best to present the lies of Yerevan as truth.

However, the co-chair countries of OSCE Minsk Group are the powerful nations of the world, they know where the truth and the lie is,"-the head of the department of the Presidential Administration said.

Mammadov called positive the idea reflected in the Los Cabos statement that maintaining the status quo in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is unacceptable.

"Azerbaijan is not trying to achieve unilateral advantage and does not take an extreme position in the negotiations. Changing the status quo should be reflected in the liberation of our lands from occupation based on the principle of territorial integrity.

The Azerbaijani state will give the Armenians, who are its nationals, the high status of self-government within the framework of international law. But for all this Armenia should respect the documents adopted by international organizations, resolutions, statements of co-chairs and the Madrid principles.

And what happens in reality? Armenia does not implement the resolutions of international organizations and requirements of other documents on the conflict. This is a disregard for international law and the main obstacle in resolving the conflict. The Armenian leadership comes up with any statements to deceive the international community.

For example, Armenian Foreign Minister Nalbandian after the Los Cabos statement expressed thoughts that have nothing to do with reality. In his statement, he said that Armenia accepts all proposals of the co-chairs, trying to resolve the conflict based on the Madrid principles, but because of the position of Azerbaijan, it cannot achieve this. A politician must always take into account some realities," he said.

Mammadov expressed his regret at the fact that some circles in the international arena continue to be hostage to false and deceptive statements of the Armenian leadership.

"It delays the resolution of the conflict. The most dangerous thing is that such step exacerbate Armenia's geopolitical situation in the South Caucasus, increases the geopolitical and military risk and, in general, makes the situation in the region uncertain.

As for Azerbaijan, we have always clearly and explicitly expressed our position. Our country is acting and will continue to act within international law. We will not retreat from our position to defend our territorial integrity.

As long as Armenia does not leave our occupied territory, no ties will be established at an official level with this country. Armenia's participation in international projects in the region will be impossible," he stressed.

Mammadov said that Azerbaijan takes OSCE Minsk Group as the primary format of conflict resolution.

News.Az