Nagorno Garabagh

As can be seen, Armenia is seriously concerned by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs holding the substantive and intensive negotiations following the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Geneva on October 16, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, told APA.

Hajiyev was commenting on the statement Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian made during at joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

“Always imitating the negotiations and attempting to divert the attention from the main target by means of technical and secondary issues, Edward Nalbandian has chosen to resort to a variety of pretexts and lies,” noted the spokesman.

“According to the document of March 23, 1995 on the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group, the co-chairs shall rely on the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, the decisions of the OSCE Budapest summit, and the Helsinki Final Act,” said Hajiyev, stressing that ignoring the requirements of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions is tantamount to denying the mandate of the Minsk Group co-chairs.

He also pointed to the document adopted at the Budapest Summit of 1994 at the level of the heads of state and government of the participating countries.

“The document says ‘they [the heads of state and government of the OSCE member states, including the United States, France and Russia], affirming their commitments to the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, calls on the parties to the conflict to engage in intensified substantive negotiations and to continue in a hasty manner the negotiations in order to conclude a political agreement on the cessation of the armed conflict,’” added Hajiyev.

The spokesman stressed that UN Security Council’s Resolutions 822 (1993), 583 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993) on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a legal framework that forms the basis for a political settlement of the conflict on the basis of international law.

These resolutions condemn the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, underscore the inadmissibility of seizure of territories by force, reaffirm the territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of borders of Azerbaijan, and demand an immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from Azerbaijani lands, said Hajiyev.

“There is no deadline for these resolutions, and they continue to be in force until they are implemented,” said the spokesman, warning that no state is allowed to distort or belittle the role of UNSC resolutions.

Hajiyev also said that UNSC Resolution 874 welcomes the "Adjusted timetable of urgent steps to implement Security Council’s Resolutions 822 and 853" submitted by all members of the OSCE Minsk Group. “Adopted on the basis of the mandate of UNSC Resolution 853, this document calls for a phased withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories on a definite schedule,” he added.

Hajiyev also cited UN Secretary-General's statement No SG/SM/ 5469, of October 31, 1994.

“According to this statement, the UN’s position is based on four principles that are reflected in various resolutions of the UN Security Council. The first principle is the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan while the others are the inviolability of international borders, the inadmissibility of the use of force to seize territories and an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all foreign troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories,” he said adding that Armenia still ignores these requirements.

The Foreign Ministry official accused the Armenian foreign minister of distorting the essence of the Aquila, Muscoca, Deauville, Los Cabos and Enniskillen statements of heads of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, which were prepared on the basis of the Helsinki Final Act.

“It’s known to everyone how the Armenian foreign minister protested and made contradictory statements after the US co-chair of the Minsk Group, in August 2017, listed the principles of the conflict’s resolution agreed upon with other co-chairs on the basis of the abovementioned statements,” he reminded.

He noted that Azerbaijan presents real facts based on UN Security Council resolutions, the norms and principles of international law.

“Regardless of Armenia's will, the international community supports the fair and international law-based position of Azerbaijan. Negotiations are being conducted on this basis to achieve the soonest settlement of the conflict and ensure sustainable peace in the region,” added the spokesman.

Hajiyev urged Armenia to understand the reality and put an end to the “ostrich policy”.

“Everyone should know that Azerbaijan will fully ensure its territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders,” he concluded.