Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Baku accused Yerevan and some powers behind it for delay in settlement of the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

MPs, referring to Azerbaijani President’s recent statement, said Armenia is unable to continue occupation of Azerbaijan’s lands, as this country is in a miserable situation.

“Armenia is a powerless and poor country caught in a helpless condition. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict could have been resolved fairly long time ago, if it wasn't for Armenia’s influential patrons in various capitals,” President Ilham Aliyev made a statement at the recent Cabinet meeting .

MP Elman Mammadov said President Aliyev has made very clear statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“He accurately referred to the current situation in Armenia, noting that Armenia is weak, poor and in a helpless situation,” Mammadov said.

He noted that Armenia, which occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories, is unable to continue the occupation of its neighbor’s lands for too long.

"So, there are forces patronizing the country. These forces have existed throughout history in different states. These states have a "great benefit" in the occupation of our territories. Today, Armenia has no weight in the political arena, and its patrons speak on behalf of it,” Mammadov underlined.

He went on to say that the OSCE Minsk Group which was mandated as intermediary for resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict over the past 20 years is suffering from deep differences between its co-chairs and this in turn has been hampering the group's efforts to settle the conflict.

“Co-chairs of this group are the states whose policies contradict each other. How can it happen that the states pursuing the diametrically opposite policy come to an agreement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? That's impossible. This is the biggest problem. Without these countries, Azerbaijan and Armenia themselves would resolve this problem,” Mammadov said.

He added that it is not difficult to guess how this conflict would be resolved if Azerbaijan strengthening day by day, with Armenia weakening more and more each day.

“This conflict would be resolved fairly and in favor of Azerbaijan. But, unfortunately, those who patronize this criminal state do not allow the settlement happens. President Aliyev very accurately pointed out that we are alone in fighting in this arena but we will successfully to lead our fight and liberate our lands,” Mammadov said.

MP Musa Gasimli also noted that it is impossible to compare Armenia and Azerbaijan in terms of state power.

“The words by President Aliyev at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers reflect reality: Armenia has never possessed the necessary force to occupy Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts, and even today it doesn’t have such a capability,” Gasimli told Trend Agency.

He stressed that human resources, finance, economic power, military-industrial complex and other resources are all necessary to create an army capable to occupy the territory of another country, adding that Armenia does not have them. “Armenia cannot compete with Azerbaijan,” he said.

Gasimli went on to say that the reality is that some Western circles support Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan by all means for implementation of their strategic goals.

Clash of interests of various countries in the region is one of the main reasons for the delay of the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that emerged as a result of Armenia’s military occupation.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.

--

Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz