Baku responds to proposal on negotiating ethnic Armenian's rights

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
25 Jun 2023 14:59

On Saturday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said that the best way to settle the dispute was "to address the rights and security issues of the 120,000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan's national flag with the city of Shushi in the background, in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, November 9, 2020. (AP)

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that Yerevan's proposal of negotiating Karabakh Armenian rights was unacceptable and considered the proposal as a barrier to the reintegration process.

"Efforts to misuse the issue of the 'rights and security' of Armenian residents are unacceptable. Azerbaijan is making efforts towards the reintegration of the Armenian residents, and it is necessary to put an end to Armenia's interference in the process under various pretexts, as well as its destructive obstruction," the ministry said in a statement, further noting that those representing the interests of Karabakh Armenians have refused assistance from Azerbaijan.

On Saturday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said that the best way to settle the dispute was "to address the rights and security issues of the 120,000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh through the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue within the framework of an international mechanism."

This comes after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on May 22 that Yerevan is willing to recognize all of Azerbaijan's sovereignty over all its territory including the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh.

"Those 86.6 thousand square kilometers also include Nagorno-Karabakh. But we also need to state that the issues of the rights and security of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians have to be discussed in the Baku-Stepanakert format," Pashinyan told a briefing.

Pashinyan said that he expects Baku to recognize Armenia's sovereign territory of 29.8 thousand square kilometers.

Pashinyan added that guarantees should be given for the safety of Armenians living in Karabakh: to ensure that no ethnic purges or genocide is perpetrated against them.

On his part, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that a peace treaty between the two countries was inevitable.