YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–Armenia’s Foreign Ministry issued an announcement Thursday–blasting a recent letter sent to the presidents of the US–France and Russia by Azeri president Haydar Aliyev–who blamed Armenia for the deadlock in the Karabakh peace talks.
"It is distressing that the side which has rejected a peace proposal by those countries–is now calling on them to play a more constructive role in the conflict resolution," the announcement said.
"The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Armenia announces that the main obstacle in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is Azerbaijan’s non-constructive posturing–which aims to resolve the conflict through non-peaceful means," the statement continued.
"Meanwhile–Azerbaijan’s propaganda machine has been working to create an atmosphere–whereby Armenia is deemed the non-constructive side to the conflict–and that the proposals by the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group do not correspond to OSCE principles and are not based on international precedents," the foreign ministry said.
The announcement also listed several other approaches by Azerbaijan–which it viewed as obstructing the peace process–namely Azerbaijan’s refusal for direct dialogue with Nagorno-Karabakh.
Furthermore–the foreign ministry outlined that Azerbaijan was aiming to place the Karabakh conflict within the larger context of Russian-Turkish relations and utilizing Azeri oil reserves as leverage for getting what it wants from Western nations.
In conclusion–the foreign ministry called on Azerbaijan to revisit its approaches to the peace process and regional economic cooperation issues–in the name of lasting peace in the Caucasus.