“The political and legal bases of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement are well known,” he said, commenting on US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent statement at the Atlantic and Aspen Institute. “Among them are the UN Security Council’s important resolutions, rules and principles of international law and the Helsinki Final Act.”

In his statement, Kerry said that it is still impossible to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict today.

"It is Azerbaijan, as a country subjected to occupation and aggression by Armenia, is interested in the rapid settlement of the conflict,” Hajiyev said. “While remaining committed to the spirit of Vienna and St. Petersburg meetings, the Azerbaijani side has repeatedly stated that it is interested in resolving the conflict through substantive negotiations.”

“The substantive negotiations are underway despite the media does not provide any information about it,” he said. “These substantive negotiations, as it was stated at the level of the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, must change the status quo, which is unacceptable and inconsistent, and result in the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from occupation."

“The principle of self-determination of peoples is specified in the Helsinki Final Act not to harm the principle of territorial integrity,” he said. “It is Armenia which is trying to harm the conflict settlement by various provocations.”

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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