Elkhan Polukhov
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry spokesman has accused the Armenian deputy foreign minister of trying to change the talks process on Karabakh.
The accusation came after Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov's disclosure of details of the negotiations on a Karabakh settlement prompted a hail of criticism in the Armenian press.
Mammadyarov said on Friday that he intended to discuss with his Armenian counterpart the timing of the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijan's Lachin and Kelbajar districts.
These districts are especially sensitive to the Armenian side as they lie between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.
One of Mammadyarov's most vocal critics is Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan. He accuses the minister of spreading false information targeting the "Azerbaijani population".
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov today cast doubt on Kocharyan's competence, Novosti-Azerbaijan reported. Shavarsh Kocharyan is a botanist by profession and has never been involved in the negotiating process, Polukhov said. "He cannot have full information about the complex negotiating process, his competence in diplomatic issues is doubtful," Novosti-Azerbaijan quoted the spokesman as saying.
Polukhov said that Mammadyarov's speech had reflected the content of documents signed by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, mediating a solution to the Karabakh conflict, and of the speeches by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the presence of Russian President Dmitriy.Medvedev.
"In this respect, the attempts of the Armenian leadership to change the essence of the negotiating process seem clumsy," Polukhov said.
"Instead of preparing the public for the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, for the peaceful coexistence of the Armenian community in a Karabakh autonomy with the highest rights within the Azerbaijani state, the Armenian leadership avoids responsibility and the question of whether it accepts the Madrid document," Polukhov said.
The Madrid document, also known as the updated version of the Madrid principles for a Karabakh settlement, was put forward by the OSCE mediators in late 2009. It has been the subject of mutual accusations between Armenia and Azerbaijan ever since. Armenia says that it accepted the principles as a basis for talks two years ago, a view restated by Shavarsh Kocharyan, while Azerbaijan holds the view that Armenia has not yet responded to the updated Madrid principles.
News.Az
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