Foreign ministry: Azerbaijan ready for substantive negotiations with Armenia

By  Trend

Azerbaijan is ready for substantive negotiations with Armenia to achieve progress in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev said in Baku May 31.

"The Armenian armed forces must be withdrawn from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and internally displaced people must return to their native lands through substantive negotiations," he said.

“The media representatives will be informed if proposals about holding the meeting are received,” Hajiyev added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.