Azerbaijan Urges Armenia to Take Practical Steps Towards Opening

Baku on Tuesday urged Yerevan to take practical steps in line with the new regional realities to facilitate the opening of communications.

"It is well known that Armenia, having occupied Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized sovereign territories for nearly 30 years and causing the blockade of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, has not made a positive contribution to the real negotiation process for the opening of communications in the four years following the 44-day Patriotic War," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aykhan Hajizada, said in a statement, The Caspian Post reports.

He was commenting on an article by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan published by Armenpress news agency.

"Although Armenia is aware of its written and signed obligations regarding the opening of communications connecting Azerbaijan’s western regions with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, it has yet to fulfill them," the spokesman stated.

"Overall, Armenia’s proposals for essentially unnecessary, complex-to-execute, and practically lengthy routes serve to divert attention away from the process and obligations," he stressed.

"If the Armenian side is genuinely interested in the opening of communications in the region, it should not evade its obligations and must take practical steps in line with the new regional realities to facilitate the opening of communications," Hajizade added.