Baku expects U.S. President to send Armenia a message to renounce its aggressor policy

"Obama, President of a country which advocates peace and democracy all over the world, must have a fair and concrete position on this issue [the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]. Therefore I think the U.S. President must send a message to Armenia to renounce its aggressor policy," Azerbaijani Presidential Administration International Relations Department head Novruz Mammadov told Trend News.

Obama will visit Turkey on April 5-7. The U.S. Turkish media reported the President is expected to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the Turkish officials.

Mammadov said U.S.-Turkey ties are very important. Discussions on regional issues during the visit are natural. "I welcome U.S. President's visit to Turkey. It means that the U.S. President is interested in the region and he admits Turkey's role," he said.

Mammadov said Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform initiated by Turkey are major issues. Such discussions must lead to conflict's resolution. These steps must be concrete and fair.

He said the steps to resolve the conflict must be in the form of pressure on Armenia, aggressor country.

The position of the official Baku is that the conflict must be solved step-by-step, he said.

"As a first step, Azerbaijan's regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh must be returned. Later the Nagorno-Karabakh problem must be solved within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. As a next step, the issue of status must be discussed. This is not only our position, but also conditions providing for fair resolution under the international law," he said.

The OSCE Minsk co-chairs have made positive statements on the conflict resolution recently. French Co-Chair Bernard Fassier said at a forum held in Vienna earlier last week that the territories controlled by the Armenian Armed Forces must be returned to resolve the conflict. Referendum to determine Nagorno-Karabakh's status will be held after 10 to 15 years.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

/Trend News/