Ashraf AboArafe
Baku – 26 July 2020
Gathering to launch a serious peace process in accordance with the Helsinki Final Act and the United Nations resolutions, Hikmat Hajiyev, the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan declares the city of Baku to be visited by a delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan whilst heading the Foreign Policy Section of the Presidential Court, Mr. Hajiyev stated that his country is seeking to recover its lands from Armenia through peaceful means and serious negotiations.
Announcing in a press statement today, he highlighted that Azerbaijan awaits the visit of a high-level delegation from the Minsk, a group headed by the Ambassadors of Russia, France, and the United States of America and is affiliated to the Organization for Security and European Cooperation consisting of 11 countries to instigate the peace process.
He accused Armenia of failing to respect the ceasefire and continuing its unconstructive stance. The violation on the armistice on an almost daily basis was sometimes the main reason for the outbreak of clashes between the two sides on the borders.
He described peace talks with Armenia as ineffective and made clear that his country does not wish to participate in formal talks on the Karabakh mountain conflict. “The discussions should be organized within a framework consistent with the principles of the Minsk Group and are authorized to conduct dialogue between the two sides, guided by international principles, the Helsinki Final Act and the decisions of the United Nations.”
Stressing the urgent need for an expanded meeting, Mr. Hajiyev also shared that “The Azerbaijani side is awaiting an increase in the delegates participating in the Minsk group leadership, and we need to make concrete efforts from it to hold intensive discussions with the participation of 11 members states of the group to reach peaceful solutions.”
On the developments of the current situation, Hikmat Hajiyev said that Armenia continues its provocations towards the Peacock Province from the borders of Azerbaijan and Armenia International. He explained that the situation was fully evaluated by President Ilham Aliyev in the meetings of the Security Council and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Accusing Armenia of trying to bring political military organizations, he stated that Armenia joins its membership and third parties into the conflict to disrupt the development projects implemented by Azerbaijan, damaging the East-West transport corridor and oil and gas pipelines and exposing the region to new environmental disasters and occupying new lands.
The Karabakh mountain conflict is one of the largest conflicts in the nineties, broke out between the Republic of South Caucasus, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1988.
