AZERBAIJAN OPERATES AGAINST UN OBJECTIVES: ARMENIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER

Tert.am
23:31 ~U 15.03.10

Azerbaijan is not resigning from the essence of the issue, and from
attempts at misrepresenting the negotiating process and the real
reasons for the conflict, said RA Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh
Kocharyan while speaking with journalists today and commenting on
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s statement today on
the issue of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh (NKR) conflict.

"First, it’s necessary to note that there is only document in existence
today which the parties have approved as a basis for negotiations. That
is the 2007 Madrid Principles. Occasionally, working proposals are
presented by the negotiators, which since have not yet been agreed
to by the parties, cannot be transferred to the Madrid document. If
Azerbaijan is attempting to once again withdraw from the Madrid
document, which it was doing a year after approving the document,
then let it announce that [it’s doing so]," said the Armenian deputy
foreign minister.

Kocharyan recalled that the three agreed-upon principles in the
document are people’s self-determination, territorial integrity and
abstaining from the use of force.

"Until an agreement on resolving the question of NKR’s status is
reached, eliminating the after-effects of Azerbaijan’s aggression
toward a self-determined Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh is impossible.

If Azerbaijan truly wants to do away with the consequences of its
aggression, then it must be ready to remove its armed forces from the
NKR territories it has occupied and to secure the return of refugees,"
sais Kocharyan.

According to him, Azerbaijan continues to misinterpret international
rights, speaking on the self-determination of NKR peoples in the
scope of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. In truth, the issue is
about NKR people’s self-determination and Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity in the scope of the obligation of Azerbaijan, who uses force.

"In accordance with the UN charter, one of the UN’s 4 objectives
is the equality of people under the law and respect for peoples’
self-determination; territorial integrity is one of the UN’s
principle in order to reach that goal. Azerbaijan continues to operate
against both the UN’s objectives and the territorial integrity of a
self-governing NKR, [and that] becomes the main obstacle in the issue
of securing progress in negotiations," concluded the Armenian deputy
foreign minister.