MOSCOW, October 7./TASS/. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev emphasized on Wednesday the role Russia and Turkey could play towards de-escalation in the post-conflict settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Of course Turkey, as a great country, as our neighbor, a neighbor in the South Caucasus has every right to take part in a mediation mission after active hostilities end," Aliyev said in Time will Tell political talk show on Russian Channel One on Wednesday.
"Given that the current mediation mission has achieved no results whatsoever in 28 years, leading to inaction instead, to the developments that we are having now, we must of course rely on a pragmatic approach - who in reality can have a positive impact on the developments in the region to de-escalate tensions, to establish a lasting peace and develop cooperation," the Azerbaijani leader said.
"Of course, I believe that these are Turkey and Russia in the first place," he stressed.
According to Aliyev, Azerbaijan, for its part, intends to get back to the negotiating table after the phase of active hostilities ends in Nagorno-Karabakh. "When the phase of military confrontation ends, we will certainly get back to the negotiating table," he said.
"From the very start of a military confrontation, Azerbaijan has been saying that we are not withdrawing from the process of negotiations, we look to a political settlement, but it must be the settlement. We cannot sit and wait for another 30 years until relevant influence is exerted on Armenia," Aliyev added.
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States.