ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CALLS ON AZERBAIJAN TO SIGN NON-AGGRESSION PACT
Yerkir
22.03.2010 14:13
Yerevan
Yerevan (Yerkir) – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has appealed to
Azerbaijan to sign a non-aggression pact which he hopes would prepare
the ground for continued talks about the future of Nagorno Karabakh.
In an interview with Euronews, Sargsyan said that non-use of force
is an underlying principle of international law, which holds the key
to a lasting settlement of the long-running territorial dispute.
In an earlier conciliatory move towards Baku, the Armenian leader
said he was ready to accept the modified Madrid Principles of solving
the conflict.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev responded by saying the negotiations were
already in their final stage but insisted on the return of all Karabakh
territories and the withdrawal of the Armenian forces stationed there.
Simultaneously, President Sargsyan reiterated Armenia’s longstanding
premise about the people of Nagorno-Karabakh having every right to
self-determination, adding that Karabakh was artificially appended
to Azerbaijan during the Soviet times and Armenia could not just give
it up.