Azernews.Az

By Akbar Mammadov

Armenia disrupts the negotiation process around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, presidential aide, head of the Presidential Administration’s foreign policy department Hikmet Hajiyev, told Azertag on April 22.

Hajiyev made the remarks while commenting on Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan’s statement during the video conference with Elmar Mamamdyarov on April 21 that Yerevan will not withdraw troops from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the phased resolution of the conflict.

“The Armenian Foreign Minister’s statement nullifies the negotiation process to resolve the conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. Such destructive statements from Yerevan inflict a serious blow on the negotiation process and violate the negotiations. This is also a manifestation of disrespect for the co-chairs”, Hajiyev said.

Hajiyev stressed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved in stages on the basis of the Helsinki Final Act and resolutions of the UN Security Council. As part of the phased process, at the first stage, Armenian troops must be withdrawn from the occupied regions of Azerbaijan around Nagorno-Karabakh.

Hajiyev noted that on the eve of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also spoke about a phased settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

“If Armenia wants to get out of the negotiation process with such statements, then it must openly recognize its position. Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, in turn, must respond to Armenia’s statement,” he emphasized.

Hajiyev added that Baku’s position on resolving the conflict does not change.

“The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly stated this. The conflict must be resolved within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and on the basis of international law," he stressed.

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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

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