Azerbaijani FM says progress in Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations fully depends on Armenia’s position - UPDATE

The progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations fully depends on Armenia's position to change status quo, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said addressing the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Vilnius on Wednesday.

"The status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unacceptable, however, unfortunately no progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is observed, despite the OSCE mediation will mark its 20th anniversary next year," Mammadyarov said.

Azerbaijan is a key player in the region, and threat to the country's territorial integrity will question the safety of the South Caucasus as a whole, he said.

"Existence of unresolved conflicts in the OSCE space, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, undermines the authority and confidence to the organization," Mammadyarov said.

He said good neighborly relations are guarantee of successful development of the entire region, and Azerbaijan is ready to make compromises within international norms to achieve peace and stability in South Caucasus.

"Opening of borders in the region would make possible the successful development and prosperity of the South Caucasus," he said.

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Azerbaijan approaches the OSCE as the only comprehensive and inclusive regional security arrangement, where Azerbaijan participates as a full member, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said addressing the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Vilnius on Wednesday.

"We believe that this organization is uniquely suited to promote open dialogue among the participating states, settle conflicts on the territories and foster cooperation on security issues on agreed principles, shared values and commitments," he said.

According to Mammadyarov, the organization should follow its core principle, it the reusability of security and avoid division to separate security communities.

Mammadyarov said the security of the each of participating state is separately linked to that of all of others and facilitating observance of the OSCE principles, early warning conflict prevention crisis management, including fact finding rapporteur missions and OSCE police and peacekeeping operations and conflict resolutions.

"Despite the fact that we have experienced enormous hardship in the first years of our independence, now Azerbaijan is recognized as reliable partner for the last several years. We are consistently demonstrating one of the highest economic growth indicators in the world and has transformed from the recipient to the security provider," he underscored.

Within the last 5 years the country managed to triple GDP and almost ten times increased budget, he said.

According to Mammadyarov, Azerbaijan is ready to share it's positive experience and available expertise in different spheres of security, related cooperation with the OSCE including energy security, mine action, fighting terrorism, organized crime and drugs trafficking and contributing to the security stability and development in Afghanistan.

"Azerbaijan as a young democracy remains fully committed to continue respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms insuring the rule of law and promoting the market reforms in the country. We firmly believe that these efforts will strengthen comprehensive development and further integration of Azerbaijan in to the world family of democracies," he underlined.

/Trend/

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10:08

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has expressed his country`s readiness to begin work on a major peace agreement.Mammadyarov responded to questions from journalists during his visit to Vilnius.

“The talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have continued for 20 years. Unfortunately, the Azerbaijani lands are still under occupation. The Armenians carried out ethnic cleansing in our occupied lands.”

“The last seven years of negotiations are particularly intense, because of the Prague process. In this context, it produced more specific results, which are called Madrid principles, reflecting the outcome of the negotiations, which began in 2004.”

“These principles are the basis to identify the parameters of a peace agreement. In general, being aware of the failure to find the final points of contact, knowing that these principles are a good basis for moving forward and conclude the main peace agreement, the Azerbaijani side suggests the next step to begin work on a major peace agreement," he said.

Mammadyarov called the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict “a multi-faceted, complex issue”. "We need to consider the military factor, the problem with the return of land, big financial problems. To date, there are various initiatives to strengthen confidence-building measures between the sides, there are contacts between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities. Thus, the only way out is not only the continuation of negotiations, but also the intensification of contacts.”

Commenting on Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian`s statement regarding obstruction, allegedly, caused by Azerbaijan to build a mechanism to investigate incidents at the contact line, Mammadyarov called it “a populist statement”.

"First of all, we must understand what is a mechanism, an incident. There is the military factor out there, this is the real front line, this is a war, killing not only military but also civilians. Thus, Azerbaijan cannot and is not interested in hampering the resolution of this issue,” Mammadyarov said.


/AzerTAc/