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Elmar Mammadyarov: â€œMany things will be changed when Armenia begins to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijanâ€

24 October 2011 16:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementieva â€“ APA. â€œEverybody understands that the current status quo can not exist long time. I hope we will move from the deadlock. At the present day, we are focusing on the primary and most important issue â€“ the fact of presence of the Armenian armed forces in the territory of Azerbaijan, around the occupied Nagorno Karabakh. Many things will be changed when Armenia begins to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijanâ€, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov told Russiaâ€™s Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

Minister said the most negative side of the armed conflict is the occupation of the territories and ethnic cleansing. â€œEverybody understands that not only Nagorno Karabakh, but seven surrounding regions were also occupied. These regions, including Nagorno Karabakh were ethnically cleansed from Azerbaijanisâ€.

Mammadyarov emphasized the importance of restoration of mutual relations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno Karabakh. â€œThe people should return to their homes in Nagorno Karabakh, including Shusha, Khojaly, Khojavand. We are ready to help to build new houses and to fund this process. It is important to return the people earlier lived in Nagorno Karabakh to the region before determination of its final statusâ€.

Touching upon the Russiaâ€™s role in the solution of the problem, Mammadyarov said from the very beginning, Russia has worked towards extinguishing the fire of war and then finding common points between the sides.