Azerbaijan Criticizes Armenia Over Karabakh Dispute At UN

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov has hit back at Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian over the conflict concerning the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Mammadyarov said that Sarkisian "misuses the noble principle of self-determination to cover up his country's attempts to annex" Karabakh.

Sarkisian had earlier criticized Azerbaijan over Karabakh in his September 24 speech to the General Assembly, saying that Baku had prevented a resolution to the conflict.

Tensions have recently flared up again in the de facto independent region, with fighting between Azerbaijani soldiers and pro-Armenian fighters from Karabakh.

Mammadyarov devoted half of his 10-minute speech to the Karabakh conflict.

The breakaway republic is now inhabited almost entirely by ethnic Armenians but is located within Azerbaijan's internationally recognized borders.