It is important to establish dialogue between the youth of Azerbaijan and Armenia within the framework of the CIS, said Rovshan Rzayev, an Azerbaijani MP and a member of the Public Association “Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh”.
“Unfortunately, for 25 years we have been deprived of the opportunity to live in lands where we were born. Unfortunately, our territories are still under Armenian occupation,” said the MP addressing an international conference “The Moscow-Baku Axis: Towards a New Caucasus Geopolitics” that kicked off in Baku on Thursday, APA’s Moscow correspondent reported.
He accused Armenia of continuing its occupation policy for 25 years.
Rzayev spoke about his meeting with Leonid Slutsky, former chairman of the Russian State Duma committee for CIS affairs. “During our meeting, he said that we must solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on our own, no country beyond the region should interfere in this matter. There is Russia, Armenia – an occupant country, and Azerbaijan which territories are under occupation. We have to solve this problem ourselves,” he said.
The Azerbaijani MP offered to resume the dialogue between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh. “What can we do? Today’s conference is attended by highly influential politicians, social and political figures. They can facilitate the resumption of the dialogue between the Azerbaijani and Armenia communities of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
He also underscored the importance of establishing dialogue between the youth of Azerbaijan and Armenia within the framework of the CIS.
“We are waiting for assistance in this matter from Russia, its intelligentsia. I hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin will finally say his word and justice to triumph,” the MP added.
As for the negotiation process on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Rzayev said that Azerbaijan is in favor of the principles of its settlement.
“We favor principle of the inadmissibility of the use of force and weapons, in spite of the fact that weapons were used against Azerbaijanis in Karabakh, and they were forcibly expelled from their lands. We also agree with the principle of self-determination,” he added. “Another point is the principle of territorial integrity. Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is recognized by the international community. Then let a referendum be held within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and its results will be discussed.”