Nagorno-Karabakh needs a final peace settlement, not a ceasefire, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov said in a speech at the German Society for Foreign Policy, answering an American student’s question, a ‘Vestnik Kavkaza’ correspondent reports.
"As for the truce, I believe that the ceasefire is not a panacea, it is not a long term solution. The April war that began in early April when Armenia endangered the cease-fire proves the fact that the truce, he so-called, the ceasefire was very fragile and did’t even exist. Well, we adhere to the cease-fire, but that is not the question. Maintenance of the ceasefire, avoiding a political solution to the conflict, means that we continue to maintain the military component of the conflict. As I have already said in my welcoming speech we must get rid of the military component. We must bring our soldiers back to the barracks. Only in this case we can expect a solution to the conflict,’’ he said.
‘‘As for the mechanism for investigating of violations of the ceasefire it must have a legal basis. If we sign a peace treaty, an agreement on the timing of the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories then we will be able to work out an investigation mechanism,’’ Elmar Mammadyarov said.
Speaking about the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group, the Foreign Minister pointed out that its co-chairs don’t put forward any new ideas in order to resolve the conflict. "They propose what they hear from both sides – Azerbaijan and Armenia. Taking into account that the leaders of the member countries of the Minsk Group try to avoid any acute problem, the most important thing is not to be tempted to reason: ‘‘We have been negotiating for 25 years. Now we can find a comfortable theme in order to negotiate for another 25 years.’’ It doesn’t have to be this way. I will say it once again that the status quo is unacceptable,’’ the minister said.
"The existing status quo is not only unacceptable, but also unsustainable. It is disastrous for the region, for the country, for every person. We have to achieve some progress in peace negotiations,’’ he said, answering one of the questions.
Answering the question of any new security guarantees for the Armenian side, the Minister expressed a doubt that there is such a necessity, as the current guarantees are more than convincing. "Such countries as the US, Russia and France are involved in the process. You know no one conflict was not solved without the involvement of at least one of these countries in particular, the United States and Russia. Permanent members of the UN Security Council and I cannot understand what else guarantees should be provided,’’ the Azerbaijani diplomat noted.
Commenting on the problem of refugees, he expressed confidence that sooner or later the day will come when they are able to return to their homes. ‘‘As for refugees, it's the most unpleasant part of the conflict. Poor people suffer, living on these territories. The peaceful population expelled from these territories to Azerbaijan. And we wonder from the very beginning of the conflict, why these people don’t want to build their relations with each other, the Armenian and Azerbaijani population of Nagorno-Karabakh? We lived side by side during many years and centuries as neighbors before the beginning of the conflict. Why do these people don’t want to negotiate with each other without the involvement of politicians, journalists, the authorities? For example, doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers. Because the day will come when they are able to live with each other again. I have no doubts,’’ the Minister said.
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