Yerevan /Mediamax/. Azerbaijan expects Armenia to remove the “main obstacle” to the normalization process.

Trend reports that deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur Mammadov said this, “responding to the claims made by the Armenian Foreign Minister at high-level meeting at the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.”

“Over the past year Azerbaijan and Armenia through direct bilateral negotiations have made significant progress in the normalization process, in particular in the preparation of a bilateral peace agreement, including the direction of delimitation and demarcation of the state border. At the moment, we are waiting for Armenia, to legally renounce territorial claims to Azerbaijan through constitutional amendments and remove the main obstacle to the normalization process,” he noted.

Mediamax notes that speaking at the high-level meeting of the 56th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on February 24, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, in particular, said:

“One year ago, in my statement I made extensive references to the challenges that Armenia was facing. Unfortunately, most of those challenges still remain unresolved despite the tremendous efforts of my country. Statements coming from our eastern neighbor continue to question the territorial integrity of Armenia, despite the recognition of each other’s territorial integrity based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, which among others had reconfirmed that the administrative boundaries of the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijani SSR had become international borders between the two independent republics. Moreover, as we speak, the mock trials against 23 Armenian individuals – who are arbitrarily detained, are taking place in Azerbaijan with disregard of human right standards for due process.

The Republic of Armenia, remaining faithful to its agenda on establishment of peace and stability in our region, has made several constructive proposals to the Azerbaijani side, including within the context of the Peace Agreement, opening of transport infrastructure, mutual arms control and verification mechanism etc, having in mind the necessity to establish a strategic deal that will resolve all major issues. We remain convinced that constructive response and further engagement and demonstration of political will of both parties will largely contribute to opening a new era of peace in our region. In this very context I would like to once again reconfirm the willingness of the Armenian side to turn the page of enmity and establish institutionalized peace. We are not only ready for this, but will not divert from this path.”