Armenia Sabotaging Negotiation Process - Azerbaijani FM

The status of Nagorno-Karabakh can be determined only after the return of them local Azerbaijani communities to the region. The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said this at a press conference with his Bosnian counterpart.

"The status cannot be determined without return of Azerbaijanis expelled from their lands," Mammadyarov said. Therefore, the Minister said, the constant statements of the Armenian side on the prioritization of determining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh mean "ruining the negotiations."

He pointed to the destructive position of Armenia, which avoids talks

The Minister drew attention to the fact that official Yerevan has not yet responded to the proposal of the French side to hold a meeting in Hamburg in the 3 + 2 format (Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group).

Expressing attitude to the Armenian side’s recent statements that Nagorno-Karabakh must be either independent or annexed to Armenia, Mammadyarov noted that such statements play a negative role in the negotiation process.

The Minister said the negotiations are based on the document which first of all states that Armenian armed forces should be gradually withdrawn from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. -06D--