Azerbaijan wants to see Armenia as adequate representative in settlement of Karabakh conflict

This was said by Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Bahar Muradova in Baku on October 3.

She stressed it was quite obvious that inevitably there would be demands for the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

“If we recall the process of his election as prime minister, it should be noted that neither today's parliament, nor government bodies, nor political forces in power were interested in this. The election of Pashinyan as prime minister did not eliminate the existing problems, but, on the contrary, deepened them further. This is openly manifested in the processes observed in Armenia. It is very important for a politician to possess experience, skills and ability to make diplomatic moves. Pashinyan has a very low level of these capabilities, so that opponents will inevitably have a desire to take revenge. Dissatisfied political forces in Armenia, aggravating the situation in the country, intend to regain their former capabilities, and are not going to sacrifice them in this struggle for the sake of Pashinyan. And this confrontation will only heat up," the vice-speaker noted.

Also, commenting on the Azerbaijanis taken hostage by Armenia, she said that the Azerbaijani delegation will voice its views on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as the release of Azerbaijani hostages Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev at the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Kyrgyzstan.

She noted that the issue of Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, taken hostage by the Armenian side, is constantly raised in the framework of international events.

The appeals are being made to release Azerbaijanis convicted upon the “laws” of the illegal regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Muradova added.

“Unfortunately, there is no progress on the issue of their release,” she told Trend.

Muradova stressed that voiced opinions remain unheard without concrete mechanisms and real pressure.

“Nevertheless, I believe that the issue must not be removed from the agenda. Azerbaijan will constantly focus on this issue. The efforts should be made to take serious measures to return people, whose mobility in their country is restricted, to their homes,” she said.

In July 2014, during an operation in the village of Shaplar of the occupied Kelbajar region, Armenian special forces killed an Azerbaijani, Hasan Hasanov, and took hostage two other Azerbaijanis, Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov.

Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev were judged illegally by the unrecognized courts of a separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh. Following an expedited “judicial process” in December 2015, Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years. They all wanted to visit their homes and the graves of their relatives. Attempts of Azerbaijan to provide justice and to free the hostages are still unsuccessful.

Azerbaijan’s State Committee on Affairs of Refugees and IDPs, the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons and other agencies have repeatedly urged international organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, to assist in release of Guliyev and Asgarov, but the problem remains topical yet.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict 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 regions. 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.

Until now, Armenia controls fifth part of Azerbaijan’s territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from NagornoKarabakh and surrounding regions.