President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today met with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Munich.

The Azerbaijani President congratulated Antonio Guterres on his election as the UN Secretary-General. The head of state recalled with pleasure his meetings with Antonio Guterres in Baku.

Antonio Guterres highlighted his visits to Azerbaijan as UN High Commissioner for Refugees as well as his meetings with President Ilham Aliyev. He enquired about the current state and prospects of the negotiations on Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. President Ilham Aliyev informed the UN Secretary-General of this issue. The head of state expressed his regret over the fact that there is no serious progress in the negotiations. He said that Armenia is reluctant to take part in the negotiations and violates certain agreements on the settlement of the conflict that were reached. President Ilham Aliyev said that last April the Azerbaijani army responded to the provocations of the Armenian armed forces on the line of contact and liberated a part of the occupied Azerbaijani lands. The head of state said a referendum on amendments to the constitution of the so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” which is planned to be held on February 20 is illegal and a number of organizations protested against this referendum. President Ilham Aliyev said this once more proves that Armenia is not interested in conflict resolution.

UN Security-General Antonio Guterres enquired about the main conditions for the settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. President Ilham Aliyev noted that Nagorno-Karabakh and its seven surrounding districts must be freed from occupation, refugees and IDPs must return home and peacekeeping forces must be dispatched to the region. Only after that it is possible to conduct a referendum on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. President Ilham Aliyev said it is important that UN and Security-General Antonio Guterres intervene in the problem to speed up the process.

AZERTAC