The head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev stated in an interview to APA:

“The impression is that the Armenian Foreign Ministry is either unfamiliar the Helsinki Final Act and the resolutions of UN Security Council, or they deliberately distort the essence of it, thus deceiving the Armenian people. No one has the right to distort the essence of the resolutions of the UN Security Council. The Un Security Council resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993), which are the principal basis for the settlement of the conflict, condemn the use of force against Azerbaijan and the occupation of its territories, recognize the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, once again confirm the inviolability of internationally recognized borders. It is stressed that the changes in the internationally recognized borders of States through the use of force are unacceptable. It is enshrined in the resolutions of the UN Security Council that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is an integral part of Azerbaijan. These documents require the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. “

Hikmet Hajiyev continued:”It is enough to remind the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, who has claims over the focus of the resolutions, about the statements of the OSCE Minsk Group at the level of the heads of states of the co-chair countries made on July 10, 2009 in L’Aquila and June 25, 2010 in Moscow. In these statements, according to the elements developed on the basis of the Helsinki Final Act, it is planned to return the occupied territories around Nagorno-Karabakh at the first stage. The first point of the updated Madrid Principles implying a step-by-step solution to the conflict also consists of this. The essence of the meeting of the presidents in St. Petersburg and the essence of the document, which is currently on the negotiating table, is this. Despite the fact that Armenia is required to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories, it still does not pay attention to it, does not hesitate to distort the statements of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs made at the level of the heads of state.

“Armenia is particularly scared of the expression of “substantive negotiations”. Despite the appeals of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the UN secretary General to substantive negotiations, the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry tries to avoid using this expression every time. Because substantive negotiations include changing the “status quo”, which the co-chairs consider unacceptable, the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories. Speaking on behalf of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the Armenian Foreign Minister has already started speaking on behalf of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The head of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia knows better why he went to Moscow on April 26. We can say that the proposals, which are now on the negotiating table, were discussed on that day at the meeting of ministers. The Armenian Foreign Minister’s excuse that he was preparing the press release for the Moscow meeting of the three countries’ ministers, which consisted of only a few sentences, put him in a ridiculous light.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry harms the negotiation process with such frivolous and useless statements. Constructive participation of Armenia in substantive negotiations could serve to resolve the conflict and ensure sustainable peace in the region” concluded Hikmet Hajiyev.

Source: Minval.az