AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER ACCUSES ARMENIAN DIASPORAS OF DESTRUCTIVE ACTIVITY IN CALIFORNIA STATE
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 25 2007
Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend K.Ramazanova / The Foreign Minister
of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, stated at the meeting with the
delegation of the California Senate on 24 September that the activity
of the Armenian diasporas in the US California State is destructive.
Touching upon Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov said that the
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are the citizens of Azerbaijan and
they may be provided with the high autonomy status only within the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
The Head of the US delegation, Shell Kuel, highlighted the importance
of settling the conflict peacefully within territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988
due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these
territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time
the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
(Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.