AZERI OFFICIAL ACCUSES ARMENIA OF "MISLEADING" WORLD ON KARABAKH TALKS

Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 19 2007

Baku, 19 December: After the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
foreign ministers on the sidelines of the OSCE council of foreign
ministers in Madrid, Armenian officials launched an active propaganda
campaign in order to mislead the local and international community on
the contents of the talks on the Karabakh settlement, the official
spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Xazar Ibrahim,
has said.

The negotiations are being held on the basis of Azerbaijan’s
position on the restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and
sovereignty over all the occupied territories and on the return of the
population, displaced as a result of ethnic cleansing carried out by
the Armenian state, to their homes, including to the Nagornyy Karabakh
region of the Azerbaijani Republic. "Azerbaijan has never discussed
and will not discuss its territorial integrity," Ibrahim stressed.

At the same time, seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict,
Azerbaijan has always demonstrated goodwill. Armenia, on the contrary,
is continuing its military aggression and is pursuing a policy of
using force.

Under Article 51 of the UN Charter, a victim of aggression has the
right to self-defence. However, a paradoxical situation has come
about in the region: the state that has carried out aggression –
Armenia – is spending on defence more than Azerbaijan. In Armenia,
military spending is 4.3 per cent and in Azerbaijan – 3.8 per cent.

What is more, Armenia has totally militarized the Karabakh
separatists. Azerbaijan highly rates the international recognition of
its territorial integrity, which is reflected in resolutions, decisions
and statements adopted by states and international organizations.

"We are deeply confident that the propaganda of officials will become
another signal of alarm about the true intentions of the Armenian
government," the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Xazar Ibrahim also denied the statement by Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan that the Azerbaijani side is allegedly creating
obstacles to monitoring of the front line by the personal envoy of
the OSCE chairman-in-office, Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Azerbaijan is not creating obstacles to anyone who works according
to their international mandate, Ibrahim said.