Fuad Huseynaliyev: Pashinyan 'talking about second and third stages' though first stage between Azerbaijan and Armenia not passed yet

While Azerbaijan and Armenia have not even passed the first stage, Nikol Pashinyan is talking about the second and third stages, Director of Report Information Agency Fuad Huseynaliyev said in an interview with ARB 24 TV channel, Report informs.

According to him, after the anti-terrorist measures carried out by Azerbaijan, Armenian residents told media representatives at the Lachin border checkpoint that they were forcibly relocated by the Armenian side: “Azerbaijan has stated from the first day that it is ready to accept the Armenian residents living in the Karabakh economic region as its citizens. There should be some format for this, and that format is to grant Armenian residents the right to live here. These may be the people who lived here until 1987-1988, as well as the children of the Armenians living in Karabakh.”

Recalling that during the years of occupation, Armenia implemented an illegal settlement policy in Karabakh and surrounding regions, Fuad Huseynaliyev noted that people of Armenian descent from many countries were relocated and settled illegally in those areas: “Against the backdrop of all these realities, why should Azerbaijan accept those persons into its sovereign territory?! Azerbaijan will give the right to live in the country to the Armenian residents who meet its conditions, with all the rights of Azerbaijani citizens granted to them. I believe that there will be no problems related to the mentioned issue. However, accepting anyone unconditionally means that the representatives of the terrorist regime and their supporters can return to the territories, which no state would accept.”

Commenting on the views expressed by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in an interview with the country's Public TV about the meeting in Granada, Huseynaliyev noted that in any case, the delimitation and demarcation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia can take place after the signing of the peace treaty: “Currently, Nikol Pashinyan wants to go a little further and set additional conditions for the signing of the peace treaty. However, no peace treaty has yet been signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In such a case, there can be no question of any map or border. First of all, the two countries should sign a peace treaty and the next steps should be taken based on this. Which maps will be taken as the basis for delimitation is the next stage. Without passing the first stage, Nikol Pashinyan is already talking about the second and third stages. We know that such negotiations will be ineffective."

The head of the agency said that Azerbaijan does not and will not accept any conditions: “Several of our villages from the Soviet era remained as enclaves in the territory of present-day Armenia. In my opinion, the Armenian prime minister wants to secure himself against this matter and thinks that those villages should remain within Armenia, etc. But as I emphasized, these are the issues that will be discussed after the peace treaty is signed. Hence, it is not possible to proceed to the second stage without the initial document.”