Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has restated Baku's position that Karabakh must remain part of Azerbaijan, as required by international law.
He commented to News.Az on the Deauville statement by the presidents of France, Russia and the USA, the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is mediating a settlement to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
"We read with great attention the text of the joint statement of three presidents of France, Russia and the US. This statement demonstrates the level of commitment of the leaders of the countries co-chairing the Minsk Group of the OSCE. The statement invites the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to take further steps and make efforts to elaborate the principles of the settlement," Araz Azimov said.
"The Azerbaijani position is well-known. We base ourselves on the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, according to which the use of force against the territorial integrity of a state in any form is unacceptable. And, therefore, occupation of territories and acquisition of territories by force is to be rejected firmly and clearly. According to these very principles, the internationally recognized borders of states are to remain unchanged if there is no other agreement.
"Azerbaijan respects all principles of the Helsinki Final Act and recognizes that the right of people to self-determination can be implemented only in conformity with the principle of the territorial integrity of a state. Therefore, proceeding from these principles Azerbaijan expects that the settlement of the conflict will ensure withdrawal from the occupied territories, the return of the population, the normalization of life, the peaceful coexistence of Azerbaijanis and Armenians in the NK region, and the future political process of defining the status of self-rule for both communities of the NK region within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. We do not want more, but we shall not agree to less. We are ready for flexibility and compromise, but within the framework of the commonly recognized principles of international law.
"I would like to repeat once more that Azerbaijan does not consider its territorial integrity a subject of negotiation. The status of self-rule can, and we hope will, be discussed at a later stage with participation of both communities of the NK – Azerbaijani and Armenian, living side by side in the region. Through this way we hope we shall be able to come to an agreement with the Armenian side. We use all possible efforts for a peaceful settlement of this conflict and we agree with the observations of thje three presidents of the co-chair countries that the current status quo in the territories occupied by the Armenian forces is unacceptable and we shall join our efforts to theirs (co-chairs) in changing this situation for the better. We expect, of course that these three nations leading the negotiations will do their utmost to see the principles of the Helsinki Final Act observed as we described earlier. If those efforts succeed, then we, together with the three co-chair countries, will be ready to register success.
"Time has passed but still Azerbaijan maintains its interest, motivation and patience in this very hard process of negotiations. But it seems that the hardness of these talks has nothing to do with objective criteria and reasons, but is caused more by factors of subjectivity and internal political difficulties inside Armenia. We shall not allow the Armenian side to further abuse the right of the Azerbaijani nation to live within its own territory, including its Nagorno-Karabakh region. At the same time we are ready to embrace our Armenian citizens in the NK region together with the Azerbaijani ones.
"Unfortunately, we observe Armenian attempts to misread the principles of international law and further abuse them in the effort to bridge the un-bridgeable and to find in international law some comfort for the occupation of Azerbaijani lands. Unfortunately, we also observe an attempt by the Armenian side to further delay the return of territories, to keep some territories hostage to further political issues and to reject the return of the Azerbaijani community to the NK region, which speaks about the real intentions of the Armenian side. On such a basis a compromise cannot be reached.
"We hope that the international community and mainly the OSCE will not let the principles of the Helsinki Final Act be attacked and abused further and we count on the support of the OSCE in this very protracted process of settlement.”
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