Baku, May 30, AZERTAC

“We resolutely reject the biased and baseless statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia with reference to the views and calls expressed by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Lachin district on May 28, 2023,” said Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as it commented on anti-Azerbaijan statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry of May 29.

“The statement of the Armenian side is a manifestation of not being able to digest the work done by Azerbaijan in a short timeframe, who carried out reconstruction works after liberating these territories from the occupation, and created all the conditions for the return of the population violently expelled from these territories, by Armenia, a country who kept the territories of Azerbaijan under the occupation for 30 years, carried out ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis, and devastated cities and villages.

It looks that Armenia, at the same time, in order to prevent the return of civilians to these areas, aims at distracting the attention of the international community and covering up its actions, such as placing more than 2,700 landmines and laying booby traps in houses when they withdrew forces from Lachin, the occupation of which was terminated in accordance with the provisions of the Trilateral statement of November 10, 2020.

The deliberate distortion by the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the calls of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan about the necessity to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty, the inadmissibility of interference in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan, and the resolute prevention of steps that serve to promote separatism in the region, shows that the Armenian MFA has not learned from the history.

It is ridiculous that Armenia, which committed an act of aggression against Azerbaijan in violation of the UN Charter and the norms and principles of international law, and did not end the occupation despite 4 resolutions of the UN Security Council, is claiming that Azerbaijan is threatening with the use of force.

It is completely baseless for a country that expelled the entire Azerbaijani population from their native lands, not only in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, but also in Armenia, to claim that Azerbaijan intends to "ethnically cleanse" the Armenians living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan intends to take all necessary steps towards the reintegration of local Armenian residents.

Prevention of opinions and challenges against the sovereignty and territorial integrity is the sovereign right of Azerbaijan, and this is in line with the norms and principles of international law. Armenia's contrary actions, and interference in dialogue efforts of Azerbaijan with Armenian residents are meddling in internal affairs and contradict the pathetic statements of "support for territorial integrity and sovereignty” made by Armenia.

The intention to prepare for peace and stability in the region is not measured by fake calls and promises, but by real steps. The party that was the first to propose the basic principles for the establishment of peace, the first to put forward the text of the peace agreement, the first to promote the efforts to open communications in the region, the first to promote the establishment of the commission on delimitation and the work in this direction, and the first to promote confidence-building measures such as the return of soldiers who lost their way at the border is Azerbaijan, as obvious to everyone. It is also clear to everyone that it is Armenia, who hinders all these efforts.

Thus, it would be commendable if the Armenian side, instead of obstructing peace-making efforts and delivering false and deceitful statements, should respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan that includes Karabakh region, not in words but in deeds as well,” the ministry added.