Armenia’s new leadership shows reluctance to settle Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

He made the remarks at the Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on “Upholding the UN Charter and the purposes and principles of the NAM: towards a culture of peace,” held in New York.

“The established principle of the inadmissibility of the use of force for acquisition of territory and the ensuing obligation of non-recognition of situations resulting from serious violations of international law must be applied and enforced universally and unconditionally,” Mammadyarov said.

He stressed that Azerbaijan’s position with regard to this issue is well known, and Armenia-led armed aggression, ethnic cleansing and military occupation, along with other factors, are the sources of this position.

Mammadyarov further noted with regret that he had no good news in connection with the settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“The new leadership of Armenia demonstrates reluctance in the settlement of the conflict by making contradictory and irresponsible statements. Such provocative approach will definitely not serve for the positive developments in the negotiation process and will only worsen the already fragile situation on the ground,” the Azerbaijani FM noted.

He called on the international community to send a strong message to Armenia to act in accordance with the norms of international law and implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions adopted in connection with the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

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.