AZERBAIJANI FM HOPES FOR ACCEPTANCE OF MADRID PRINCIPLES BY ARMENIA

news.az
May 18 2010
Azerbaijan

Elmar Mammadyarov There are updated proposals presented by the
co-chairs of the Minsk Group and they are now on the table, said
Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov.

Azerbaijan’s FM Elmar Mammadyarov hopes that the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs will be able to persuade Armenia to accept the updated Madrid
principles for the parties to launch discussion of a comprehensive
peace treaty on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno
Karabakh.

"There are updated proposals presented by the co-chairs of the Minsk
Group and they are now on the table. Azerbaijan has already announced
that it accepts these principles, and I hope that the co-chairs will
persuade Armenia, so that they too have accepted this as a basis
for us to start discussing a comprehensive peace agreement on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict", Azerbaijan’s Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told Trend on arrival in Dushanbe.

Trend reports that in Dushanbe Mammadyarov will take part in the 37th
session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of
Islamic Conference (OIC), which will be held on 18-20 May.

According to the minister, the Azerbaijani side showed constructivism
and stated that all proposals presented in Athens by the co-chairs
of OSCE Minsk Group in Athens have been generally accepted by
Azerbaijan. "The constructivism is obvious here, and we are ready to
move on," "Mammadyarov said.

The minister recalled that in early June he intends to meet with the
OSCE Minsk group. "We will discuss all issues related to the peaceful
settlement" , Mammadyarov said.

The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in
1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts – 20 percent of
Azerbaijan’s territory – are under occupation by the Armenian armed
forces.

In May 1994, the parties reached a cease-fire agreement and i peaceful
negotiations are still held under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk
Group and co-chairmanship of Russia, France and the United States.

The four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council related to
the liberation of Karabakh and other occupied lands have not been
executed by Armenia.