The legitimate position of Azerbaijan on the issue of the country's sovereignty has been accepted at the international level, Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, said in an interview with Report, News.Az reports.

“We hoped to sign a peace agreement by the end of 2022, which was also discussed at the meeting in Washington in September. However, due to Armenia's non-constructive position, we could not achieve our goal,” he said.

The presidential aide stressed that From the very beginning, Armenia tried to include the Karabakh issue in the peace agreement, but this approach is unacceptable to Azerbaijan.

“The issue regarding the personal rights and security of the Armenian population living in Karabakh is exclusively an internal affair of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan will not discuss issues related to its sovereignty with any third parties, including the Republic of Hayastan. The Karabakh conflict is resolved; Karabakh is the territory of Azerbaijan. For Azerbaijan, the Karabakh issue has left the international agenda. It is no coincidence that there is no mention of Karabakh in the documents adopted at the Brussels, Moscow, Prague, and Sochi meetings,” he said.

Hajiyev pointed out that the issue of the rights and security of the Armenians living in Karabakh will be resolved under the Constitution and laws of Azerbaijan. “There are no special privileges for them. As I said, this issue has nothing to do with Armenia and other countries,” he added.

The presidential aide recalled that the issue of ensuring the rights and security of the Armenian population living in Karabakh was discussed within the framework of the Azerbaijan Constitution both in the Brussels negotiations and in the meeting held in Washington in September last year.

“There can be no talk of creating any international mechanism to discuss the rights and security of the Armenians living in Karabakh, and we have never agreed to this. There is no logic in Armenia's statements on this matter; they are aimed at creating artificial tension,” Hajiyev concluded.

News.Az