Baku lauds Moscow’s prioritizing Karabakh conflict settlement

Baku welcomes Moscow’s setting, in its new foreign policy concept, the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a priority in interactions with other OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries.

Baku welcomes Moscow’s setting, in its new foreign policy concept, the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan NagornoKarabakh conflict as a priority in interactions with other OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries.

Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry announced about this while talking to Trend on December 2.

The concept’s principles, outlined in the joint statements of the presidents of Russia, U.S and France, made in 2009-2013, are indicated as a basis for the NagornoKarabakh conflict settlement.

Hajiyev stressed that inadmissibility and instability of the status quo were stressed in the statements made by the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries.

“Azerbaijan, together with Russia and other OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, will continue constructive actions to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through substantive negotiations and rapidly change the existing unacceptable and unsustainable status quo in accordance with the talks of the presidents in St. Petersburg,” Hajiyev said.

Russia actively supports the political and diplomatic settlement of conflicts in the post-Soviet area, said a new foreign policy concept of Russia, approved by President Vladimir Putin and published on the official website of the Kremlin.

Russia contributes to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict together with other OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries as part of the existing multilateral negotiation mechanisms and on the basis of the principles set out in the joint statements of the Russian, US and French presidents, made in 2009-2013, the concept said.

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. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.