"A peace agreement is quite achievable if Armenia is ready to take certain steps," J.Bayramov

Baku/23.06.23/Turan: Armenia's demands for certain international guarantees for the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians are unacceptable, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov said.

"We do not accept such preconditions or pretexts from the Republic of Armenia for a number of reasons," he said in an interview with Reuters.

"The most fundamental is the following: this is an internal, sovereign issue. The Constitution of Azerbaijan and a number of international conventions to which Azerbaijan is a party provide all the necessary conditions to guarantee the rights of this population," he continued.

He said that ethnic Armenians can still use and receive education in their native language and preserve their culture if they integrate into Azerbaijani society and state structures, like other ethnic and religious minorities.

At the same time, Bayramov, on the eve of the Washington meeting with the Armenian Foreign Minister, which is scheduled for next week, said that "a peace agreement is quite achievable if Armenia is ready to take certain steps."

"If there is a desire not only to make statements, but also to take some practical steps, I think that it is potentially possible to reach an agreement even before the end of the year," he stressed.

"But if there is no real readiness… then it may be later," Bayramov summed up. -16B06-