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UK government respects the will of people in Scotland. It agreed with the Scottish Government to hold a referendum and will accept its results, even if it is in favor of independence, said Irfan Siddig, British Ambassador to Azerbaijan, in an interview given to the Azerbaijani news agency "1news.az."

Touching upon the Karabakh conflict the ambassador noted that the United Kingdom strongly supports its early peaceful settlement. "We support the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group which assist the parties to find the solution of the conflict,” he said.

According to the Ambassador, the Armenian population of the Nagorno Karabakh disputes the status of the region. "In practice, this means that the agreement on the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be based on the Helsinki principles - refraining from the threat or use of force, Territorial integrity of states and equality of peoples and their right to self-determination. This is the most difficult element of the conflict, which should be agreed between all parties," Siddig said.

As the British ambassador noted, it is vital that any settlement, connected with the future status of Nagorno Karabakh, was achieved only through peaceful means.

Responding to the question about the referendum to be held in Scotland, and what means could be undertaken for solving the problem in such regions as Crimea, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Transdniestria and Nagorno Karabakh, Irfan Siddig said: "I recently spoke about the importance of the example of Scotland, and I think it caused some misunderstanding. I do not think that the situation in Scotland and Nagorno Karabakh or any other disputed region, which you mentioned, is similar. However, the idea to hold a referendum in Scotland was agreed between the British and Scottish governments; it is presented in the context of peace and open debate."

The Ambassador noted that there is no threat of conflict in Scotland. "All parties have agreed to accept the result, even if it meant change of the international borders of the United Kingdom. Thus, in this sense, Scotland is incomparable with Nagorno Karabakh. But if you look at it from another point of view, then there are some important principles that could be regarded by everyone," said the diplomat.

Irfan Siddig stated that "some residents of Scotland" surely wanted greater autonomy from Britain. In response, in the late 1990s the United Kingdom suggested Scotland a greater autonomy. Scotland has its own directly elected parliament, its own government, the power to pass laws in many political areas, independently from the UK Government.

"Thus, we have already put into practice a bigger model of autonomy in the UK. However, some forces in Scotland preferred to practice the process of devolution of authority and to secede from Great Britain and to form a completely independent state. The UK government respects this wish, even if we disagree with it. We do not want to see boundaries of the United Kingdom changed," the British diplomat said.

"But due to the fact that we respect this wish, the British government agreed with the Scottish Government to hold a referendum and it will accept the result, even if it is in favor of independence. The thing is that, if the internationally recognized borders have to be changed, then they should be changed only on peaceful, democratic and mutually acceptable basis," Irfan Siddig stated.