Heydar Aliyev's persistence to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by force helped the Armenians to win the war, Vladimir Kazimirov, former Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, said during a meeting organized by Rossotrudnichestvo in Yerevan on Thursday.
"Even losing control over their territories, both Abulfaz Elchibey and Heydar Aliyev persisted in their futile attempts to turn things around and to resolve the conflict by force of arms. The Azeris kept rejecting the mediators' peaceful initiatives, while the Armenians were open to them," Kazimirov said.
He said that though losing more and more territories, the Azeris were stubborn in refusing to make peace, and that was good for the Armenians, who moved farther and farther into Azerbaijan.
"Had the Azeris accepted the UN Security Council's Resolution 822, they would have not lost Agdam, Fizuli, Jebrail, Kubatlu and Zangelan. But they do not wish to admit this as they want to pose as 'victims of occupation.' Ilham Aliyev keeps referring to the four UN resolutions. But he quotes only the articles that serve his
interests. He insists that Nagorno-Karabakh troops be withdrawn from Azeri territories, but he forgets that it was Azerbaijan who wrecked those resolutions by refusing to stop the war," Kazimirov said.
The cease-fire agreement was signed by the defense ministers of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan on May 2 1994 due to efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group.