President Aliyev: Last Vienna meeting reaffirmed existing format of Karabakh talks

By  Trend

The last Vienna meeting was important also because it reaffirmed the existing format of negotiations on resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev said.

He made the remarks April 2 at the meeting with servicemen of a military unit of the Special Forces of the Defense Ministry.

“Today, the whole world recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan,” he said. “All influential international organizations have adopted relevant decisions and resolutions. This is a historical and legal basis. No country has recognized and, I am sure, never will recognize the self-proclaimed “Nagorno-Karabakh republic”.”

“Therefore, the goal of continuing the negotiations is to liberate the occupied lands,” he noted. “As you know, the new leadership of Armenia wanted to change the format of negotiations. Some of their statements are also known to the public. However, the unequivocal position of Azerbaijan did not allow that to happen. The conflict is between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied our lands. Eighty percent of soldiers on the occupied lands on the other side are Armenian citizens. Therefore, the negotiations must be conducted between the two countries."

"The last Vienna meeting was important also because it reaffirmed the existing format. Both the talks between the foreign ministers and the meeting between the leaders show again that this is an Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Whenever we talk about a conflict, we call it like this: the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”