Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on the proposal to return Karabakh to the negotiating table

Baku/22.03.19/Turan: The suggestion of the Prime Minister of Armenia that "the proposal to return Nagorno-Karabakh to the negotiating table is not a change of format, but the restoration of the negotiation format" is to be clarified, since there are no documents and decisions that support its validity, stated the comments of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan in connection with the statement of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. In this regard, the last statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs should be reiterated, in which they unequivocally supported the invariance of the format of the negotiation process. Similar statements were made by high-ranking officials of the European Union.

"This position of the world community serves as a serious message for Armenia, and also indicates support for the grounded position of Azerbaijan," the commentary said.

Resolutions of the UN Security Council 822, 853, 884 and 884 unequivocally confirm the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the international borders of the Azerbaijan Republic, and also demand the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces from the territories of Azerbaijan. These resolutions constitute the legal basis for resolving the conflict.

At the meeting of the CSCE Council of Ministers in Helsinki on March 24, 1992

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office is tasked to convene a peace conference in Minsk on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and in this regard, the document states: "Elected and other representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh will be invited to the Conference by its Chairman as interested parties after consultations with participating States."

"The elected and other representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh mean both the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of our country, and these communities are mentioned in the document as interested parties. We recall that in the last statement of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group there is a reference to both communities as to interested parties. As for the question of inviting interested parties to the Minsk conference, which is supposed to be convened after the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the invitation of both communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of our country as interested parties can be considered, of course, if an appropriate agreement is reached."

Third, the cease-fire agreement reached on May 12, 1994

was confirmed by Azerbaijan and Armenia as parties to the conflict, in accordance with the above decision of the CSCE Council of Ministers in Helsinki on March 24, 1992, as well as by the leaders of the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan as "interested parties" in resolving the conflict. Thus, in this decision there is absolutely no reference to Nagorno-Karabakh as a separate party. Moreover, support is expressed for the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

Under the cease-fire agreement, a time schedule was developed for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which serves as a special supplement to this agreement. In accordance with this schedule, the withdrawal of the occupying forces of Armenia from the territories of Azerbaijan was to be ensured.

"We remind that at one time, when back in 1992 some unfounded claims of Armenia seriously hampered the peace process, the chairman of the Minsk Group made a statement on the equality of the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh:" The chairman from Italy did not reveal consensus among regarding the thesis of Armenia, according to which the mandate of March 24 allows it to give the Armenian side of Nagorno-Karabakh a formal priority over the Azerbaijani Rhone or even call the first party "elected representatives" (CSCE Newsletter number 279, Prague, September 15, 1992). Obviously, clarity on this issue was introduced back in 1992, at the initial stage of the Minsk Group, when it was stated that both communities of Nagorno-Karabakh have equal rights," the commentary says. -02D-