MFA: Azerbaijan does not want Armenia's repeated imitation of talks

Azerbaijan does not want a repeat of the situation in which Armenia imitated negotiations for many years prior to the second Karabakh war.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva said this in an interview with the Internet portal Musulmans en France, Trend reports.

"We don't want to see the same imitation of the negotiations that we've seen over the last 30 years. There would probably be no second Karabakh war if the Armenian side had shown a concrete willingness to negotiate over the last 30 years [during which Azerbaijani lands were occupied by Armenia]. Now we want to see real tangible, concrete results, not imitations. Because if we want this peace to last in the region, Armenia must fully implement its commitments," she stated.

Abdullayeva noted that following the results of the second Karabakh war, Azerbaijan liberated its territories in November 2020, which had been under occupation for almost 30 years.

According to her, despite the degree of destruction and damage inflicted by Armenia on these lands, Azerbaijan offered Armenia normalisation of relations.

"Because Azerbaijan has always maintained that the only thing that hinders peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia is the fact of occupation. Since the fact of occupation has been eliminated, we have declared our readiness to move forward and normalize relations with Armenia. That is why President Ilham Aliyev came up with the idea of signing a comprehensive peace agreement with Armenia," she said.

Abdullayeva also stressed that the political will of both sides plays an important role in this process. Azerbaijan has demonstrated that it is a country with political will by putting forward the initiative of a peace agreement. Azerbaijan has also proposed the fundamental principles on which this peace agreement should be based.

"We show that we are serious about the process of normalization of relations," she said.