Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh enslaved by mafia structure

Baku considers the recent statements by the Armenian leadership as an unconstructive step aimed at disrupting the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and maintaining the status quo based on the occupation, Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend on June 7.

He was commenting on the statement of the Armenian Prime Minister about the alleged ineffectiveness of the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict without the participation of the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Hajiyev stressed that the presence of the Armenian armed forces in the occupied Azerbaijani territories and continuation of the occupation define the international legal responsibility of Armenia as a direct party to the conflict.

“If the Armenian leadership is concerned that “the agreements reached remain on paper,” it must comply with the requirements of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, which demand the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying troops from the Azerbaijani territories,” the spokesman said.

Hajiyev further reminded the new Armenian leadership that the civic status of the Armenian community of Azerbaijan’s NagornoKarabakh region has not changed.

“Together with the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, they continue to be citizens of Azerbaijan. The recent processes taking place in Nagorno-Karabakh have once again demonstrated that the Armenian community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is totally enslaved and exploited by a mafia structure,” he said.

The spokesman added that the Azerbaijani side has repeatedly expressed its position openly and unambiguously regarding the negotiation process.

“Azerbaijan is ready to continue negotiations on the basis of the existing format and agenda for the early resolution of the conflict and ensuring sustainable peace and security in the region. The negotiations are aimed at the withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, ensuring the return of Azerbaijani internally displaced persons, who were subjected to ethnic cleansing, to their native lands,” Hajiyev stressed.

He noted that the Armenian side must understand that holding negotiations with Armenia, which is an invader and aggressor country, for more than 25 years is the biggest concession of Azerbaijan.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the NagornoKarabakh and surrounding regions.