Liberation of the occupied lands of Azerbaijan is a priority in the resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
The statement came from Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
He said the status of Nagorno Karabakh may be defined only after return of lands and displaced persons to their homes.
According to the minister, the Minsk Group co-chairs are to arrive in the region in late October.
The foreign minister noted that the sooner the peaceful solution to the Karabakh conflict is reached, the better it is for the whole region.
“Agreements have been achieved on some issues, which cannot be lost. But as there are still difficulties with the existence of some of the questions difficult to agree on, it is hard to find a new formula”, he said.
According to the minister, in this respect Azerbaijan repeatedly stated that if there are difficulties confirming the principles of the conflict settlement, it is not a big problem, that is there is a need to start working at the project of a big agreement on the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
“During the work at this project we can include the issues that have not been agreed by the parties. However, the Minsk Group co-chairs want us to continue working at the principles and achieving progress in this issue”, Mammadyarov said.
According to the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, during his recent stag in the region, French president Nicolas Sarkozy stressed inadmissibility of preservation of the current status quo.
“Over the past year and a half, President of Russia Dmitriy Medvedev tried to reach progress in talks over the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Some moments have been settled, but issues remain open”, the minister said.
According to him, the main issue in talks is the liberation of the occupied lands of Azerbaijan.
“The main problem is not the status of Nagorno Karabakh which we can define in the future. The main problem is the occupied lands, refugees and displaced persons. Withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied lands will create great opportunities for the region, pave the way to peace and cooperation here, while the status of Nagorno Karabakh will be defined at the last stage, which the Minsk Group co-chairs have already mentioned”, Mammadyarov said.
He also spoke about the process of talks and deployment of international peacekeeping troops in the liberated lands to ensure security of the population.
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