FM Edward Nalbandian, who is in the United Kingdom on an official visit, talked of the continuing conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in a Tuesday speech at the University of Oxford.
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\nArmenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s top diplomat has comprehensively introduced the topic, emphasizing particularly Azerbaijan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s unwillingness to accept the basic principles of settlement. He said the Azerbaijani authorities continue the arms race on the level of the country\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s top leadership.
\nAccording to a press release by the Foreign Ministry, Nalbandian first briefed the participants on the Armenia-UK relations and the goals of his visit to the country. He also addressed priorities of Armenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s presidency of the Council of Europe, the integration processes on the post-Soviet territory, Armenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s cooperation with Europe and other issues on the international and regional agendas.
\nSpeaking of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the minister particularly said, \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093In September 1991, Nagorno-Karabakh adopted a declaration of independence, which was approved at a December universal referendum. It was fully in line with the then USSR\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s effective legislation. It is worth, in this connection, mentioning the European Parliament\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s resolution which said Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence under a declaration similar to those [adopted] by the other [Soviet] republics, including Azerbaijan. In response, Baku perpetrated a massacre and ethnic cleansing against the Armenians, unleashing an extensive war against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia with the help of hired servicemen linked to international terrorist organizations.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093In 1993, before the signing of ceasefire, the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions (822, 853, 874, 884), where a key demand was to suspend the military operations and establish a long-lasting armistice. Azerbaijan refused \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c after the adoption of each resolution \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c to meet the basic requirement, and persistently continued the military operations.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093In 1994, a Russian-mediated ceasefire accord was reached between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, with Armenia also joining the deal. In February 1995, the new armistice strengthening agreement was signed between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, and Armenia again acceded [to the process]. But Azerbaijan has not so far shown any respect for the agreement.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Since 1997, the negotiation process has been going on in the frameworks of a mediation mission composed of the OSCE Minsk Group\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s three co-chairing countries: Russia, US and France.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093The co-chairing states, which are vested with a mediation mandate in the Karabakh conflict settlement, make considerable efforts in two main directions: elaboration of fundamental conflict settlement principles and initiation of confidence strengthening measures.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093In the frameworks of the OSCE ministerial conference held in November 2007, the mediators proposed to the parties the basic principles for settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (better known as the Madrid proposals).
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Azerbaijan rejected the document for around a year, seeking a solution in other instances. Particularly, in 2008, Azerbaijan submitted to the UN General Assembly a resolution which reflected the Azerbaijani distorted position on the problem. The resolution was passed, with only 39 of the 192 UN member states voting in favor (basically the Islamic Conference member countries). The three co-chairing countries \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c the US, Russia and France \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c voted against, while none of the EU member states, including the United Kingdom, supported the resolution.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093The co-chairing countries\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 leaders adopted resolutions in L\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7Aquila (2009) and Muskoka (2010), unveiling the basic principles and elements proposing their solutions to the problem. In the statements adopted in Deauville (2011) and Los Cabos (2012), the heads of the co-chairing states reiterated their previous remarks, highlighting the importance of an exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict.<\/p>\n
“Statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement were adopted at the OSCE ministerial conference in Helsinki (2008), Athens (2010), Almaty (2011), Vilnius (2012) and Dublin, and at the OSCE summit in Astana (2010).
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Armenia has hailed all the above-mentioned statements, expressing willingness to reach a settlement based upon the proposals reflected in the statements
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan has not so far accepted the basic principles and elements as a whole integrity. Instead of accepting the proposals, Baku is making primitive attempts to refer only to the status quo unacceptability wording. If Azerbaijan is really against maintaining the status quo, it should have long ago adopted statements by the three co-chairs.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093The president of the Russian Federation has organized 11 meetings with the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents since 2008 in order to coordinate the settlement principles. Updated options of the basic principles were introduced and discussed at the meetings.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093At the latest summit in Kazan (June 2011), as well as the meetings in Sochi (March 2011), Astrakhan (October 2011), St. Petersburg (June 2010) etc, Baku rejected all the settlement principle proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093The Azerbaijani side pretends to have adopted the option tabled in 2009, by naming it an updated version. It may look as though the other options are outdated. But it is necessary to note that Azerbaijan has certain reservations and changes with regard to even the 2009 option.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Baku has rejected not only the proposals on settlement principles but also the confidence strengthening measures \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c particularly, strengthening of ceasefire, withdrawal of snipers from the Line of Contact and elaboration of mechanisms for probes into the ceasefire violations – proposed by the international community and enjoying its full support.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Azerbaijan not only refuses to accept the confidence strengthening measures, but also provokes tensions on the Line of Contact with Karabakh and the Armenian border, exacerbating the situation and leading to new human losses.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Despite the co-chairs\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 continuing calls to prepare their countries\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 population for peace instead of war, the Azerbaijani authorities continue – on the highest level -\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0the arms race, the war threats, the belligerent statements and the xenophobia rhetoric breeding hatred. The most cynical provocation that we saw in August was the release of Ramil Safarov, the man killer, after the extradition from Hungary, and his glorification as a hero.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093It was quite recently that the Azerbaijani state subjected writer Akram Aylisli to torture just because he had addressed the Azerbaijani pogroms against the Armenians in his novel. Aylisli\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s books were burned in public. A state award was promised to anyone who would agree to cut his ear. The writer was forced to seek asylum beyond the borders of Azerbaijan.
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Despite Azerbaijan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s provocative and non-constructive policies, Armenia will continue – together with the world community – its efforts towards reaching an exclusively peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n
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FM Edward Nalbandian, who is in the United Kingdom on an official visit, talked of the continuing conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in a Tuesday speech at the University of Oxford. Armenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s top diplomat has comprehensively introduced […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13559"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13559"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13561,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13559\/revisions\/13561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}