A senior Azerbaijani official has accused Armenia of undermining the Karabakh talks process whenever rapprochement is in the offing.
Ali Hasanov, head of the Presidential Administration's public policy department, was commenting to journalists today on the OSCE summit.
“Serious efforts for a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were made at the OSCE summit in Astana. The super powers showed their position and said the states must compromise for a peaceful solution to the conflict. Unfortunately, we did not see this, as the Armenian side dodged a solution by exaggerating the controversial issues,” he said.
"You remember how the authorities were changed in Armenia in 1999, although the sides were very close to agreement. So the whole world has seen once again that Yerevan is not constructive. However, our president set out the position of Azerbaijan in his speech and said that he could not bear a situation in which Azerbaijani land is occupied."
Asked whether he meant that Azerbaijan's patience was running out, Hasanov replied that "Azerbaijan's patience is not infinite".
"No-one should be surprised, if one fine day Azerbaijan exercises its right and moves to liberate its occupied territory. Nevertheless, for now we still support a continuation of the peace talks and hope that after the Astana meeting the Minsk Group will step up its efforts. But I repeat once more that our patience is not infinite. Armenia and the international community should draw conclusions from Yerevan's unconstructive position."
Ali Hasanov said that Azerbaijan had signed the summit protocol with one condition: “It is noted that the international community will strengthen its role in the peaceful solution to the conflict. If Armenia does not back this, Azerbaijan will preserve the right to liberate its territories.”
The OSCE Minsk Group mediators on the Karabakh conflict had hoped that the two leaders might meet on the sidelines of the Astana summit. Armenian media claimed that it was Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev who refused to meet the presidents of Armenia and Russia at the summit.
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