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15 October 2016

By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend

Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov has said that Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov’s recent statement on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is inappropriate.

Ushakov said on Oct. 13 that Moscow is not optimistic about the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the near future and added that Moscow will continue to work with Baku and Yerevan on the issue.

“Such a statement by the representative of a country that co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group is inappropriate,” Ahmadov said at a New Azerbaijan Party conference in Baku Oct. 15.

He reminded that earlier, the US Secretary of State John Kerry also made such a statement.

“Both the Azerbaijani public and government had quite resolute responses to these statements,” Ahmadov said, adding that each Azerbaijani citizen wants the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be resolved soon.

Ahmadov believes that changing the status quo in the near future is one of the most appropriate ways to ensure peace and stability in the region.

He said such statements by the officials of the countries co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created to resolve the conflict, indicate the lack of capability to fulfill their commitments.

Ali Ahmadov added that the OSCE Minsk Group has made significant efforts to resolve the conflict, but these statements cast a shadow on its activity.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.