ArmInfo.Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev still has no answer to the main question. And here we are not talking about participation-non-participation of Artsakh in the negotiation process. Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of Armenia Hovhannes Igityan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"This is about the statement of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan about the necessity of accepting the final solution of the Artsakh problem of the people of Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan, which remained hanging in the air made from the UN rostrum. Everyone, including the Armenian side of the negotiations and the international community, expected an answer of the Azerbaijani leadership on this rather bold humanitarian gesture of Pashinyan, "he stressed.
However, in response to the statement of the Armenian Prime Minister about the need to come together to find a solution acceptable to all parties to the conflict, Aliyev, according to Igityan, was only able to give out a phrase at the Valdai Forum in Sochi, according to which Baku is not interested in the people or the population of Artsakh. Thus, according to the politician, it turns out that Aliyev's Azerbaijan is interested only in a piece of territory, which directly contradicts at least one of the principles of settlement - the right of peoples to self-determination.
In this context, Igityan recalled that the negotiations on the settlement were interrupted due to the aggression shown by Baku in April 2016. After that, all efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and Armenia were aimed at creating an atmosphere that would allow the resumption of negotiations, What Baku's consent was obtained several times. However, according to the politician, Aliyev, in his current statements, actually denies the negotiations as an ongoing process.
"At the same time, until Azerbaijan officially withdraws from the negotiations, Armenia, Artsakh and the Minsk Group should consider that Baku continues to participate in them. Yes, Azerbaijan impedes the process, does not contribute to creating an atmosphere of trust with statements of its own leadership. We will consider that these statements are addressed to public opinion in Azerbaijan. And if one fine day all three parties are ready to resume negotiations, Azerbaijan will once again be at their table, "Igityan summed up.
Since 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group, represented by the co-chairs from Russia, the USA and France, has been engaged in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. Currently, the settlement process is nominally taking place on the basis of the Madrid Principles put forward by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in 2007 and updated in 2009.