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Elmar Mammadyarov: â€œYou want to rest a responsibility upon me, but I can not interfere in the judicial process"

23 May 2014 08:57 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ramiz Mikayiloglu – APA. Member of the Committee Robert Walter asked Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov a question about Iran at the meeting of the PACE’s Standing Committee in Baku. APA reports that Walter said that the situation in Iran causes for concern. Recalling that Azerbaijan borders Iran and a number of ethnic Azerbaijanis live there, Walter asked Mammadyarov’s opinions regarding the processes in Iran.

In response, the Minister said that the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program are not so fast, but Azerbaijan believes that this problem will be solved. “The Azerbaijanis are a large minority in Iran, so the Azerbaijanis living in Iran are three times more than the current population of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani President’s recent visit to Iran was very successful”.

Answering the MPs’ questions about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov said that it is necessary to discuss the answers to be given to the aggressive separatism: “Self-determination does not mean the violation of the territorial integrity of the state. Since this is a question that will last forever. It is my approach to the issue, as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers”, he stressed.

Mammadyarov recalled that those who visited the occupied Azerbaijani territories without the permission of official Baku were declared “persona non-grata”: “If these people appeal to Azerbaijan, they may be removed from the black list”.

Touching upon the negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the FM said Armenia should understand that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan can not be a subject of discussion.

Asked about the arrests of human rights defenders and journalists in Azerbaijan, Mammadyarov said that he can not interfere in legal process. The FM noted that he will follow the processes in this sphere, but he can not interfere in: “You want with your question to rest a responsibility upon me, but I repeat that I can not interfere in the judicial process”.