In late August and early September, Armenia, through the France-based Center for Political and Foreign Affairs, plans to hold an international conference dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the “independence of the so-called regime created in the in the occupied Azerbaijani lands”, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told.
According to him, Yerevan has invited a number of former state officials, public figures, and MPs to the event.
“The Armenian side, under various pretexts, also seeks to organize for them a visit to the occupied Azerbaijani lands,” said Hajiyev. “Apparently, Armenia is doing it secretly, making no statement to the press.”
The fact that Armenia is preparing for this event secretly is indicative of its ugly intentions, the spokesman noted.
He added that Yerevan and lobbyists are seeking to ensure the participation in this event of certain persons for certain preferences.
The event that Armenia is trying to hold for its provocative intentions is going to harm the negotiations conducted by the OSCE Minsk Group for the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, causing escalation in the current sensitive situation and promoting the illegal regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani lands, Hajiyev stressed.
“We call on those invited to the conference to respect the principles and norms of international law and not be manipulated by Armenia’s propaganda machine, to avoid participating in this provocative conference and visiting the occupied Azerbaijani lands illegally,” said the spokesman. “It is gratifying that socio-political figures from some countries have already waived participation in this event.”
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.
A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.
The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.
Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in Dec.1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.
Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.
Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.
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