19:41,

YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan responded to the interview of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, stating that "if Armenia also takes the issue of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the establishment of peace in the region seriously, it should present its concrete proposals”, ARMENPRESS reports the press service of MFA Azerbaijan told APA agency.

"There is no need to reiterate our position, which we have stated many times. Taking into account the importance of the normalization of relations between the two countries and the chances of building a post-conflicr peace in the region, Azerbaijan has put forward relevant proposals and is ready to move in that direction. If Armenia also takes this issue seriously, it should present its concrete proposals, thereby demonstrating its readiness to start substantive talks," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In an interview with ARMENPRESS on March 15, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan referred to the 5 points presented by the Azerbaijani side on starting negotiations on a peace treaty, emphasizing first of all that the negotiations on a peace treaty should be held without preconditions.

As for the main proposals, the two countries, having signed the "Agreement on the Establishment of Cooperation of Independent States" on December 8, 1991, in fact have already recognized each other's territorial integrity and accepted that they have no territorial claims towards each other.

It should be noted that the provisions mentioned in the proposal do not fully reflect the whole agenda of the existing problems. It is vital for the Armenian side that the rights and freedoms of the Armenians of Artsakh are clearly guaranteed, and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is finally clarified. For us, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not a territorial issue, but a matter of rights”, FM Mirzoyan had said earlier today.

On March 11, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov announced that Baku had sent to Yerevan a five-point document on normalization of relations and is waiting for a response. On March 14, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan made public the contents of the document, noting that Baku is ready to negotiate a peace treaty with Yerevan on the condition that Armenia will accept these "five basic principles."

Below are the 5 points of the Azerbaijani document:

– Mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, political independence from each other,

– Mutual confirmation of renouncing territorial claims against each other; legal obligation and other encroachments in the future;

– The Parties undertake to refrain from threatening each other's security in interstate relations, from threatening political independence and territorial integrity, as well as from other circumstances which are contrary to the Charter of the United Nations;

– Demarcation of the state border, establishment of diplomatic relations,

– Opening of roads and communications, establishment of other relevant communications and cooperation in other areas of mutual interest.

Despite Baku's loud declarations of readiness for normalization of relations and peace in the region, Azerbaijan is doing the exact opposite in practice, continuing to destroy the Armenian historical and cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions, while escalating tensions on both the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and in Artsakh. Last week, the authorities of the Artsakh Republic reported that the Azerbaijani armed forces fired on a number of Armenian settlements, in particular, the communities of Khramort, Nakhichevanik of Askeran region and Khnushinak and Karmir Shuka of Martuni region. On March 10, a resident of the village of Khramort was wounded by Azerbaijani fire while working in the garden of his house.