Azerbaijani Foreign Minister: Government of Armenia must realize that reliance on the status-quo achieved as a result of military aggression

Baku. 19 May. REPORT.AZ/ "The fight against terrorism and extremism should not be used to target any particular religion or culture. Today, we are living at a time of heightened religious awareness, which is maliciously exploited in certain instances to fuel conflicts on ethnic, religious or cultural grounds. In recent years, alarming rise of “Islamophobia” in some European countries confirms the vital necessity of our joint efforts to counter this phenomenon." Report informs that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stated it in his speech at the 125th 125th Session of Committee of Ministers in Brussels.

He noted that terrorism in many instances is inseparably linked to aggressive separatism: "Areas affected by armed conflicts provide favorable conditions conducive to expansion of this evil. The international community should, therefore, facilitate the resolution of conflicts on the basis of the generally accepted norms and principles of international law, particularly those relating to respect for territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of States, and help countries restore sovereignty and security over their own territories. The Council of Europe also has an important role to play in this respect."

The minister said that one of the oldest unresolved or protracted conflict is Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with notorious 20 percent occupation of Azerbaijani lands and one million refugees and IDPs: "The Government of Armenia must realize that reliance on the status-quo achieved as a result of military aggression by the use of force is a grave miscalculation. Occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan and ethnic cleansing of local population from homes of their origin does not represent a solution and will never produce a political outcome desired by Armenia. Withdrawal of Armenia’s troops as clearly required by relevant UN Security Council Resolutions of 1993, can be a significant confidence building measure and will completely change the dynamic of the ongoing peace process and open up immense opportunities for comprehensive and sustainable development of the entire South Caucasus region."