Cornerstone of talks on Karabakh conflict settlement is withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from occupied Azerbaijani lands

The cornerstone of the negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva told Trend.

Abdullayeva was commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that "we will not discuss peace in exchange for the return of territories in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue."

"It is difficult to understand Pashinyan’s logic because the cornerstone of the negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict being conducted under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs is the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories,” she added.

“Four well-known resolutions of the UN Security Council and almost all the documents adopted by international organizations regarding the settlement of the conflict envisage that,” she said.

“In this regard, a question arises: should this position of Pashinyan be regarded as his refusal to negotiate?"

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.