The main obstacle to the peace process is Armenia`s support for the separatists , Hajiyev

Baku/16.09.23/Turan: The main obstacle to the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia is the fact that Armenia continues to maintain a financially and militarily-politically "separatist junta" in Karabakh, stated the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev in an interview with the TASS news agency.

"It is the illegal regime in Khankendi that blocks the simultaneous opening of the Aghdam and Lachin routes, refuses to accept food shipments from Azerbaijan, justifying this with cave racist motives that can have no place in the civilized world," Hajiyev said.

The illegal regime also torpedoes attempts by the central government of Azerbaijan to have a dialogue with the Armenian ethnic minority living in Karabakh, despite Baku's repeated invitations to such contacts. "Armenia's policy of supporting the illegal regime that has taken 30 thousand of our citizens of Armenian origin living in Karabakh hostage must be put to an end. There is no place for "gray zones" in Azerbaijan," the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan said.

At the same time, he stressed that Baku will not discuss "with Armenia or with any third country issues that call into question the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan." "Attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of our state, including by pedaling the topic of creating some "international mechanisms" for dialogue between the central government of Azerbaijan and the ethnic Armenian minority in Karabakh, are doomed to failure. Karabakh is an internal issue of Azerbaijan, and any attempts to challenge this are counterproductive from the perspective of achieving sustainable peace in the region," Hajiyev said.

To the question "can Azerbaijan resort to force again, as it was in 2020?", he replied: "I would not like to comment on hypothetical scenarios. Azerbaijan is a responsible member of the international community and always acts in accordance with the provisions of its Constitution and the norms of international law. We are focused on the peaceful resolution of all existing issues."

Touching upon the issue of unblocking transport communications in the region in general, Hajiyev drew attention to Armenia's failure to fulfill its obligation to open the Zangezur corridor.

Armenia refuses its obligations under various pretexts and wants to continue to remain isolated, while Baku does not intend to wait and is already actively working on alternative projects with other countries in the region. We will not tie our logistical needs to the whims of the Armenian government and will move on with our regional partners.

"However, if Armenia refuses its obligations under various pretexts and wants to continue to remain isolated, then Baku does not intend to wait and is already actively working on alternative projects with other countries in the region. We will not tie our logistical needs to the whims of the Armenian government and will move on with our regional partners," Hajiyev said.

At the same time, he considers it quite possible to sign a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia before the end of this year.

"We still hope for the signing of a peace treaty by the end of this year and call on the Armenian political leadership to take the main step — to officially register recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh economic region of our republic, with its signature under the peace treaty and commit to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of our country in the future. Including through attempts to bring our internal issues, such as issues of our interaction with our citizens of Armenian ethnic origin in Karabakh, to international platforms under the pretext of ensuring the rights and security of this population group. These are our citizens, and their rights and security will be ensured by the Constitution of Azerbaijan. It is important that Armenia abandon the policy of financing and inciting separatism in our country," Hajiyev explained Azerbaijan's position. ---06D---