Baku reserves right to use force, defense minister tells mediators

Azerbaijan supports efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia but also reserves the right to use force to regain control of its internationally-recognized territory, Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov said.

“We will not accept the occupation,” Hasanov told mediators representing Russia, the US and France in Baku on Feb. 4, according to the Defense Ministry website.

The mediators, who co-chair the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, also met President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov before leaving for Yerevan, the Armenian capital.

Armenians captured nearly 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, in a war after the Soviet Union’s breakup in 1991.

About 12,000 Azerbaijani nationals were killed and 1 million displaced before Russia brokered a ceasefire in 1994.

The sides have yet to sign a peace agreement despite more than 20 years of talks.

ANN.Az