Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Karabakh Conflict Settlement

Baku / 05.12.19 / Turan: To resolve the Karabakh conflict, it is necessary to eliminate its consequences, stated the  Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, speaking on December 5 in Bratislava at a meeting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers Council.

A meeting with the Armenian Foreign Minister lasted three and a half hours on December 4. “These were pretty tough negotiations. Unfortunately, we still have unresolved problems,” the minister said.

He noted that he was discussing a phased option for settlement with the OSCE Minsk Group. The first step should be the elimination of the consequences of the conflict: the unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the territories of Azerbaijan surrounding it.

The Armenian minister Zograb Mnatsakanyan, speaking at the meeting, noted that the basis of the settlement should be the right of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination outside the jurisdiction, sovereignty or territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. He made it clear that Armenia will fight on the side of Karabakh to protect this right.

Mnatsakanyan considers obligatory the participation of Karabakh Armenians in the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict; he called on Baku to abandon the Armenian-phobia. -02D-