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By Trend

Azerbaijan can count on the support of Islamic countries in the issue of settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh, director of the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies of Pakistan, chairman of the Pakistan Shanghai Cooperation Organization Friendship Forum(PSCOFF), well-known Pakistani political analyst Muhammad Asif Noor told Trend.

On March 1, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, speaking at the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, called on the OIC countries not to work with Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh, stating that Azerbaijan, doing everything possible to ensure international peace and security, is still facing Armenian military aggression.

The minister added that despite all these calls, despite all the efforts of Azerbaijan to resolve the conflict by peaceful means, Armenia, in order to solidify the results of its occupation, continues the policy of plundering natural resources and destroying the historical and Islamic heritage in the occupied territories.

Every day, the Armenian armed forces violate the ceasefire regime, killing and injuring Azerbaijani soldiers and civilians, the minister said.

Pakistan was one of the first countries that recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in the 1990s, as well as the first country to adopt a resolution strongly condemning the genocide against the peaceful population of Azerbaijan’s Khojaly town, committed by Armenian band formations, and urging the international community to force Armenia to comply with the UN Security Council resolutions, Muhammad Asif Noor said.

“We strongly support Armenia’s implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions, according to which it must withdraw its military formations from the occupied Azerbaijani territories,” he added.

Political analyst noted that Pakistan will continue to support Azerbaijan’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and to advocate its national interests for the restoration of territorial integrity and the inviolability of Azerbaijani borders.

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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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