ArmInfo.Raising the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh's status at the first stage undermines the peace process, said Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov at a joint press conference with his counterpart from Bosnia and Herzegovina Igor Crnadak in Baku on December 1, APA reports. The FM noted that Yerevan has recently begun to make unpleasant statements, which have a negative impact in the peace process.
"The course of the negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-AzerbaijanNagorno-Karabakh conflict is not secret for anybody. The document that is under discussion also says that Armenian troops must be withdrawn from the occupied territories in stages," Mammadyarov said, adding. "The status of Nagorno-Karabakh is also being discussed during the negotiations. However, raising the issue of Karabakh's status at first stage means undermining the peace process. The Azerbaijani community must return to Karabakh as they are also residents of the region," Mammadyarov stated.
Touching upon his possible meeting with Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on the sidelines of OSCE Ministerial in Hamburg Mammadyarov said that Yerevan has not yet responded to the Co-Chairs' proposal to hold such a meeting. "It means that Yerevan avoids the negotiations, rendering no support for the peace process," said the FM. "Every time we state that we are not negotiating for imitation. We need to work for peace," added Mammadyarov.
To recall, OSCE MG Co-Chairs informed that efforts are being exerted to organize a meeting of Armenia and Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of OSCE Ministerial on December 8-9 in Hamburg. Earlier, Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said that it is not known yet whether the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart will take place. "I can only say that my meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will be held", Nalbandian stressed.