BAKU TELLS YEREVAN TO STOP MAKING PROVOCATIVE STATEMENTS

Trend News Agency
Feb 20 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku asked Yerevan to stop making statements which prevent resolving
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Earlier Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview
that he wants to create a "Great Armenia." Sargsyan stressed that
Nagorno-Karabakh will never be returned to Azerbaijan.

"The OSCE Minsk Group must explain to Armenia that if finding a
peaceful resolution to the conflict is the only way, then Armenia
must accept its position and stop making such statements," Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry spokesman Khazar Ibrahim told journalists on Feb. 20.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed
forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan
and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are currently
holding the peace negotiations.

"Armenia made such statements before. We believe such statements
hinder finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict," Ibrahim added.